Continue as a Guest

Continue as a Guest sounds exactly like a New Pornographers record. It’s energetic, insanely catchy and occasionally thrilling pop music. The compositions are dense and clever and complex, but not too much for their own good.

There are enough little twists, turns and embellishments on their trademark sound to ensure they’re still sounding fresh. Continue As A Guest is another reliable chapter in one of Canada’s most consistent bands.

While Continue as a Guest may not have the immediacy of career standouts like Twin Cinema or even Brill Bruisers, it succeeds more subtly on its own terms and begs for repeated listens.

Pure baroque 'n' roll goodness.

Even without Bejar, there are enough pop hooks and interesting melodies to live up to The New Pornographers’ high standard.

The veteran band's warmest, most tactile record. [May 2023, p.32]

At the stage in their career when most bands are content to just repeat themselves, the unfamiliar palette of Continue As a Guest is a revelation, and certainly doesn’t preclude the other members of the New Pornographers from making their presence felt. Most notably, Zach Djanikian contributes tenor and alto sax on several tracks, expanding the album’s timbre in new and unexpected directions.

Feels almost like a victory lap, a new offering of their classic sound. [Apr - Jul 2023, p.81]

Continue as a Guest picks up on the beats-and-synths sound that drove 2017's snappy Whiteout Conditions. Yet where that album saw Newman and Co. dabbling with syncopation, here the band is moving as one unit, deepening the music's groove.

On their ninth album, the sense of crisis in Newman’s songwriting is reflected in a more subdued musical tone as well, making for an LP that delivers its vivid emotional payoff in subtle gestures.

The pleasures of Continue As a Guest are worth putting in the extra work to enjoy, and after two decades of great music, Newman has earned the right to change up his style a bit.

Newman’s fastidious, occasionally fussy writing ensures a level of quality control as he tinkers around the margins, even if his bandmates never quite catch the spark.