Shortly before the release of Interpol’s self-titled, fourth studio release, the band announced that their bassist, Carlos D. would be leaving the band to pursue personal projects. And I suspect that for many fans of the band the news of Carlos D.’s departure was shocking although not terribly surprising. During the three year hiatus between Our Love to Admire and Interpol, a couple noteworthy events have occurred in the band’s history – Paul Banks released a solo album under a pseudonym Julian Plenti titled, Julian Plenti … Is Skyscraper, Sam Fogarino had his own side project. The Setting Suns which recorded a demo last year, and most importantly, the band left Capitol Records and returned to indie powerhouse, Matador Records. 

Interestingly, in several interviews to promote their last full-length effort, the band went out of their way to say that at the time they were intending to continue onwards as a studio-based trio of Banks, Kessler and Fogarino with David Paio (bass) and Brandon Curtis (keyboards, backing vocals) joining the trio during their last world tour. 

Back in June, the members of Interpol announced that they would be releasing their fifth full-length effort El Pintor through Matador Records on September 9, and the band has continued onward as a trio; however, there’s been a reshuffling of instrumentation as Paul Banks has taken over on bass. The first single from the forthcoming album “All The Rage Back Home” manages to reveal some subtle growth in their sound. If you’re a fan, you’ll hear in some way, the sound that the band has slowly developed, complete with shimmering guitars and oblique lyrics but with a bit more of a punk energy. In some way, with a lineup change the band is figuring out how to craft a full sound their sound with less – and here it’s an interesting result. Let’s see how the album turns out.