When Turn On the Bright Lights came out in 2002, Interpol’s sound belonged to Interpol only. As time passed several bands co-opted elements while other bands (um, Editors) stole it outright; in effect, Interpol’s sound has become public domain. You can’t get mad at the band for shrugging at this benign thievery – hell, they made one of the most influential records of the decade -- but it does make their job harder if they still want to be musical innovators.

“The Heinrich Maneuver”, the first leaked track from the forthcoming Our Love to Admire, is Interpol playing it safe. Musically, this is the stuff of Antics (2004) and while everything is technically played quite well, we’ve heard these bass lines before, there’s not much new with the drumbeat, and those guitar licks are old hat. Paul Banks’s vocal phrasings seem less informed by the style he dropped on the band’s first album, but his lyrics still have room to improve. On one line, beyond all editorial reason, he actually sings to a lost West Coast lover, “You wear those shoes like a dove.”

It’s tough to call this song bad because at midnight on Friday at your local bar with a few drinks under your belt this track will certainly not offend you. It might even make you feel good. Still, the sense of “something new happening” that was felt when “PDA” and “NYC” hit the scene five years ago is gone. In light of what Interpol has done in the past, “The Heinrich Maneuver” is simply redundant. (Although it’s likely that this sort of musical redundancy -- give the people what they want -- will help pay for exorbitant New York rent.) It’s too early to entirely know what Interpol has in store for us this year, but this much is always true: we’ll have to wait for the full album to see if they’re going to explore some new sonic territory or ride a proven formula all the way to the bank.

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