Interpol celebrate 20 years since their debut album, Turn On the Bright Lights was released, with a collection EP.
Interpol has released The Black EP, containing studio and demo versions of some fan-favourites off their debut album, Turn On the Bright Lights, which turns 20 this year. The new EP features the studio version of Say Hello to the Angels, which has that punchy resonance of a studio recording to it. A beautiful demo of NYC is also included, which feels intimate, dissonant and raw.
There are four other TOTBL-era tracks on the list, which were recorded in live sessions for Radio France back in 2002. As a bonus addition, a captivating tune by the name of Specialist is added to the mix.
Alongside this special release, the band also launched a 13-minute clip, titled, “Turn on the Bright Lights” (2002 Documentary). The short documentary was recorded by a French subsidiary of EMI Records. The footage was previously lost within the endless archives of 144p YouTube blackholes. But now, the film has been uncovered, and brought to incredible hi-res, for our viewing pleasure.
It includes interviews with Interpol, as well as fragments of performances of songs like PDA, NYC, Untitled and Stella was a diver and she was always down. The raw footage opens with the band emptying their van of all their instruments for a show. Thereafter, an interview clip featuring guitarist, Daniel, shows him spilling the beginning of Interpol with a cheeky smile on his face.
Daniel talks about the process of writing songs for Interpol, and how democracy always came into play when learning each other’s songs together. Interpol’s bassist, Sam Fogarino always weighs in on the band’s direction, making a point that, “influences should just drive you to make music, but you should really just try to be conscious about making original music.”
Just last month, Interpol gave us their seventh album, The Other Side Of Make-Believe. Since the launch, they’ve received mountains of praise and support for the new collection of works.
Something Changed is perfectly Interpol – dark, melodic, inventive, beautifully written, and coupled with a wild, confronting music video. NME referred to the newest Interpol album as “a confident, rewarding and subtly adventurous new chapter for Interpol,” and The Sunday Times touched on the song’s powers, feeling as though they had the ability to “possess a strange, desolate beauty”.
The Black EP was digitally released via Matador Records on August 20 and features the studio version of Say Hello to the Angels. Listen to the new EP here. And while you’re at it, check out their latest album below!
