If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Interpol will have allowed themselves a wry smile at the huge success of Editors, a band who clearly owe a huge debt to the New York quartet’s brand of dark indie.  A wry smile might well have hidden some fear though, as these are fickle times in the music industry and it’s been a long three years since 2004’s Antics.  Loyalty of their fanbase aside, third album Our Love to Admire is also Interpol’s first for a major label.  No pressure, then. 

Quite simply though, Our Love to Admire again puts clear blue water between Interpol and any other band hoping to steal their crown.  This is underlined within the first few minutes of epic opener ‘Pioneer to the Falls’, which sounds as if it’s just waiting to soundtrack the next David Fincher flick.  It’s an icy, cinematic number, powered by a haunting lead guitar, brooding bass, touches of piano and shimmering keyboards.  As statements of intent go, it’s pretty bloody amazing.  The cinematic theme is also apparent on closing track ‘The Lighthouse’, which sounds like it could soundtrack a spaghetti western, led only by sparse guitar and Paul Banks’ mournful vocals. 

It’s not all atmospherics though.  This time round Interpol are muscular and fully formed; while tracks from debut Turn on the Bright Lights and Antics might sound like they’ve just emerged from the shadows, here they’re supremely confident.  This might well be the influence of co-producer Rich Costey, who seems to have added a definite edge to the band, evidenced in the sledgehammer one-two of lead single ‘The Heinrich Maneuver’ and ‘Mammoth’.  The former is easily one of the best singles they’ve written, underpinned by a razor sharp guitar line and a brilliant keyboard part which sounds like it was lifted straight from Twin Peaks.  The thrilling ‘Mammoth’ meanwhile sounds exactly as you might expect, powered by crunching drums, a monolithic guitar line and Banks bellowing like never before.

Interpol have always been accused of lacking emotion though and sure enough, they have a go at laying this to rest here too.  Towards the end of ‘No 1 in Threesome’, a bizarrely upbeat tune about breaking up, Banks’ vocals suddenly crack and veer towards a vulnerability that he’s never shown before.  It’s pretty impressive and starts to give the band depth that they’ve previously avoided.  Even more impressive though is ‘Wrecking Ball’, which (prepare for a shock) sounds like a ballad.  Well, not quite.  If Interpol did do a ballad though, it would sound very much like this – touches of piano, vocal harmonies, a melancholic guitar line and sparing strings.   It’s not exactly Elliott Smith in terms of emotional impact, but for a band like Interpol, who strive to appear icy cool, it’s a major step forward.

On the excellent ‘All Fired Up’, Banks lays down the gauntlet to the pretenders.  ‘I’ll take you on/I’ll take you all on/when your will is gone’, he bellows, supremely confident.  Well might he be.  Our Love to Admire is the sound of a strong and vibrant Interpol, full of ideas and comfortably moving on to the next level.  Simply, once again, it pitches them as the band everyone else has to try and compete with. 

(4½/5)