Interpol – This Mirror Weighs a Ton

For more than two decades, an Interpol album every few years has been a relative constant. While the world of music has changed drastically since their 2002 debut Turn on the Bright Lights, their brand of gothy, NYC indie has remained consistent.

Those expecting a total departure on This Mirror Weighs a Ton, their first album since 2022’s The Other Side of Make-Believe, will be disappointed. Their loyal fanbase they’ve built up won’t be, though.

That’s because all the things that made Interpol great – Daniel Kessler’s penetrating guitar and Paul Banks’s darkly haunting baritone, backed by Sam Fogarino’s drums – are still here, mixed into a melancholic musical cocktail.

There are some changes. The record is their first with long-serving touring bassist Brad Truax playing as a full member. The minimalistic but melodic title track also features backing vocals from Banks’s wife, Juliet Seger-Banks.

Though that hints at a new sound – one that flirts with a lighter touch amid Interpol’s usual brooding post-punk – it’s back in familiar territory with See Out Loud, despite switching to a lead vocal from Kessler. Iron City adds a dreamy piano line, but Wounded Soldier and Wings on Fire rarely stray from the trademark formula.

Wyatt, who despite having longstanding indie credentials is now perhaps more known for his forays into pop, as well as being a key figure behind Liam Gallagher’s pre-Oasis reunion solo reinvention, sprinkles the record with some synth-based electronica. Yet that rarely overwhelms the Interpolness of This Mirror Weighs a Ton.

Ever the Actor and Darling Thoughts could be transported forward in time from their mid-noughties efforts, as could So Rides the Reindeer, despite quirky organ-like digressions. Meanwhile, the upbeat Wake Up is the record’s true indie club banger.

Banks’s wistfully drifting vocal remains the central attraction. Especially on the eerie piano ballad Enemy, with his wife once again backing on a song that lyrically touches on the darker side of love.

The anthemic Bird and the Serpent is the track most likely to provoke an insouciant sing-along from fans, before the dark, slowed-down piano-laden coda of Sudden.

This Mirror Weighs a Ton then is perhaps an ideal later-period record for a band who have built their popularity on a distinct sound that’s served them well for more than 20 years. Recognisably their own, and with plenty that recalls a splendid past – but with just enough fresh here to keep things interesting and avoid it feeling like a retread.

Mark Worgan
Image: Elliot Lee Hazel

This Mirror Weighs a Ton is released on 28^th August 2026. For further information or to order the album, visit Interpol’s website here.

Watch the video for Wings on Fire here: