Tegan and Sara recently did an interview in The Guardian, and the journalist's main argument is that Heartthrob is more "accessible" than their other albums. It definitely sounds more mainstream and more 'pop' than their previous work, from what's currently available on Soundcloud.
They also say they're venturing into new territory with this new album, lyric-wise. "Here comes the heat before we meet" and "all I want to get is... a little bit closer" are atypical for Tegan and Sara; they admit that their music usually has a darker tone. Not that it's bad news for fangirls. Who wouldn't want Tegan looking into their eyes and crooning at them, in the music video for Closer? The lighter side of their personality, which one only sees during their live shows, is displayed in this video. In my opinion, it's wonderful. It's fluff for sure, but wonderful. This music video specifically, shows a larger variety of gender presentations than most mainstream music videos. I love it because it looks like a real party that I would go to, with people of color and people who don't all dress the same. As a young person, I'm fully in support of its efforts at queer visibility. Closer is catchy and pop-sounding, and, bonus points, is made by lesbians!
The point I'm getting to is that I don't mind Tegan and Sara becoming more mainstream, if it will get them played on the radio and more people to watch their music video. Admittedly, T&S is more than mainstream in some queer circles, to the point where people think it's overrated and they pass it on for more indie bands. Like the L Word, Tegan and Sara is used as a conversation starter when one lesbian meets another. Everyone knows them and it's not cool to get excited about them anymore. There are tons of other bands with lesbians in them now, who aren't as big as Tegan and Sara. They are the ones who need more people listening to their music, not a band which is fairly established. But in places like Singapore, it's hard to get radio DJs to be less sexist, much less less heteronormative. A song like Closer, played on the radio, might get the dialogue started about queer musicians, and get DJs to play music by queer bands.
One could only hope. There isn't much room for alternative or indie english music on Singapore airwaves. Queer bands such as Girl in a Coma or Sick of Sarah definitely fall under the label of 'indie'. In London there are stations like Xfm, and 6Music which play a large proportion of local music from East London, or alternative music, and these stations are available on public radio. They're not internet-only radio shows; they're actual radio stations. I was so surprised. One of the few things in Singapore which comes remotely close to this is Lush 99.5, which plays jazz and easy listening stuff. Despite there being a demand for non-mainstream music-- the Laneway festival, featuring Alt-J and Of Monsters and Men, among others, is attracting a large audience-- this music isn't playing on local radio.
Perhaps one could attribute this to the fact that about half of the radio stations are broadcast in non-english languages. There might not be space for a station which plays music which only attracts a niche audience, who probably don't listen to music on the radio anymore, and stream it from their laptops instead. But then again if kpop hour can be scheduled on the 'international' radio station, other stations should be able to respond to listener requests and set aside an hour for alternative music.
In all, I don't mind at all if Tegan and Sara is going in a more mainstream, accessible direction. I personally like it, and I'd like if they got played on Singapore radio. Maybe this might open the door to more music that isn't Austin Mahone or Carly Rae Jepsen.
