ALANA WILLERTON
The Gateway (University of Alberta)

Tegan and Sara aren’t ashamed to call their seventh studio album Heartthrob a pop album.

EDMONTON (CUP) — “I’m not embarrassed about pop music. I fucking love pop music.”

Sara Quin isn’t afraid to say she likes pop music, but apparently a lot of people are. One half of Canadian indie duo Tegan and Sara, she is referring to those who’ve turned up their noses at the group’s recent dive into the world of pop music on Heartthrob, their seventh studio album.

While much of the reaction from critics and listeners has been positive, there are still skeptics who doubt the twins’ decision to merge into the mainstream music scene after being the indie darlings of Canada for so long.

“To me, the idea that pop music is vapid and shallow — I just think that’s such bullshit,” Sara said. “I grew up in the ‘80s and ‘90s where pop music meant everything. It meant U2, it meant Björk, it meant Madonna, it meant Depeche Mode. It was what sold out stadiums and arenas. That’s what I cut my teeth on and that’s the world that I wished I could be a part of.

“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life and career thinking, ‘Well, I was totally relegated to the fringe because it was cooler or because I was gay’ or whatever. I want to be able to set my goal as high as anybody and not feel like somehow that is reductive to my art.”

But for some it goes deeper than just a fear of what new sounds and musical styles will bring. Pointing to what she sees as a distinct display of sexism within the industry, Sara feels that being involved in pop music is only part of the problem for some people, and that gender is the common factor among those who are criticized for their mainstream stylings.

While she and sister Tegan have not experienced much blatant sexism throughout their years playing together, she knows it’s been present on a subtler level in a way that can’t be denied.

“I was actually just reading a really interesting statement that the artist Grimes wrote on her website about liking Mariah Carey and about how no serious man who likes music has ever responded when she said that… without dismay or without laughing at her,” Sara said.

“I just thought to myself, it’s totally true. There’s a real elitism and snobbery around mainstream music, and to me, it’s not a fluke that a lot of the stuff that people turn their nose up at in the pop world is women. People like Rihanna, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson, Kesha, Kylie Minogue, Pink — all of these women are absolutely astounding; they’re like forces of nature. They are so skillful, their vocals are amazing and they just put it all out on the line.

“I don’t understand why that has less value than, like, Grizzly Bear or the Dirty Projectors. I just don’t understand it.”

And while skeptics question the power and seriousness of pop, that doesn’t mean their doubts are justified. Tegan and Sara know the security that a niche market and audience can bring. Pop stars, on the other hand, are at the mercy of the masses, and the competitive genre brings with it different risks.

Thankfully for Tegan and Sara, their risk on Heartthrob appears to be paying off. Their single “Closer” has been rising up the charts for weeks, and a change in sound after all these years comes as a breath of fresh air. But, as Sara knows all too well, it is impossible to make everyone happy.

“We’ve always struggled with anything that even seems marginally purposeful,” Sara acknowledged. “Even from the beginning, where as far as I’m concerned, our records sound totally obscure and indie rock, people would say, ‘Ugh, this is so manufactured — it’s like a major label’s dream come true.’ And I would be like, ‘Are you fucking kidding me? We sold 40,000 copies of that thing. We are not a marketing dream come true.’ Most of the time the marketing people are like, ‘What the fuck are we going to do with you two?’ ”

But now, with their new direction firm in hand and feeling confident in the decision, the pair has left what others think behind them. And while some will always remain cynical of pop music, Tegan and Sara have done their best to put their heads down and power through, paying little mind to their critics.

“I just thought to myself, ‘We’re just going to have prove this in the long run,’ ” Sara said. “So we’ve been working our asses off and trying to just make music and connect with people, and also challenge ourselves and not be afraid that if we try to be more mainstream or more accessible that that means we’re playing their game and that’s a bad thing.

“Of course we’re playing their game. If I wear a fucking paper bag over my head and make unlistenable music, I’m still playing a game — it’s just for someone else.”

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Photo: Drake Lelane/Flickr