Publicly, Tegan and Sara present a unified front. The Calgary-bred Quin sisters are identical twins who share songwriting duties, are known for their hilarious on-stage banter, and jointly campaign for LGBT equality.
In their personal lives, however, things have not always been so smooth. The two have warred behind the scenes, and when Sara relocated to Montreal in 2003, it was partly because she wanted to move away from her sister and establish her own identity.
“It was my attempt, in a way, to preserve the band,” Sara remembers, speaking to Westender on the line from Saskatoon. “It wasn’t necessary a breakup in the true sense of the word, because we obviously continued to be both sisters and bandmates, but it did feel like a sort of forced exile or an estrangement — just in order to get myself feeling like I had my own life. I desperately wanted autonomy.”
Not only did the Quins clash personally, they also struggled to find musical common ground. “A lot of times I was like, ‘Wow, it feels like she [Tegan] is in a different band than the band I’m in,’” Sara admits. This lack of unity didn’t seem to hurt the duo’s artistry, as their blend of emotive folk and hook-filled indie rock earned them a fervent following, critical praise, and a major-label deal with Warner Bros. Records.
Now, the twins have found a shared musical direction. On 2013’s Heartthrob, the siblings set aside their guitars in favour of synthesizers, and their electro-pop reinvention catapulted them to new levels of commercial success.
“I think right now there’s definitely something a little bit more unified,” Sara says of the recent sonic style. “We have an aesthetic and we have a sound, and our different songwriting approaches and lyrical approaches fit better.” They even live in the same city these days, as both have homes in Vancouver.
On Love You to Death, released this past June, Tegan and Sara have once again ventured into the slick, glossy realm of radio-friendly synth-pop. Like Heartthrob, the LP was helmed by blockbuster producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Sia, Beck), and it teems with sparkling synths, pulsing drum machines and giant-sized choruses.
The album’s widescreen soundscapes are given an intimate, human touch by the deeply personal lyrics. On “White Knuckles” and “100x,” Sara addresses her past tensions with her sister; the latter number resembles a lovesick breakup ballad, its uncharacteristically spare piano arrangement providing the backdrop for the confession, “I swear I tried to leave you / At least a hundred times a day.”
Sara explains, “The songs are about us, but they’re really about me figuring out who I was and that breaking off period where I needed to go and do my own thing for a while.”
Elsewhere on the album, the twins overtly explore queer themes. Lead single “Boyfriend” tells of a love triangle and explores sexual identity with lines like, “You call me up like you would your best friend / You turn me on like you would your boyfriend / But I don’t want to be your secret anymore.” On the standout new wave anthem “BWU,” Sara rejects traditional ideas of matrimony and sings, “We don’t need a white wedding / All the girls I loved before / Told me they’d signed up for more.”
The latter song was inspired by Sara’s experiences with her longterm partner. “I’m in a relationship with someone who I’ve been with for six years,” she notes. “Gay or straight, people start saying, ‘So when are you getting married? When are you having kids? When is the next step?’ And I’m like, ‘Fuck off. We’re doing just fine. We have cats, we own a house — what else do you want from us? Get off our backs.’”
By openly acknowledging their sexuality in lyrical form, Tegan and Sara are attempting to shine a light on the LGBT issues they care about so deeply. The commercial success they’ve enjoyed in recent years means that the 36-year-olds have a prominent platform from which to share their message.
“It’s more important than ever to raise awareness and visibility about our community and the inequities between so many different groups amongst the community,” Sara says. “It is still an incredible fight ahead.”
Despite society’s recent progress in regards to marriage equality and LGBT rights, speaking about queer themes within the context of a radio-ready pop song still carries a powerful positive message, and Sara is more than happy to use her music as a jumping-off point for her political cause.
“It can seem like a small thing — like, ‘Oh, it’s just a pop song, and you’ve kind of skewed the gender in it,’” she reflects. “For me, it’s just an opportunity to talk about these things publicly.”
• Tegan and Sara perform at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Oct. 5 at 7pm. Tickets from $36 at Ticketmaster.ca.
