Released: 2022

Genres: Post-Punk Revival, Alternative Rock

The Musiquarium’s The Other Side of Make-Believe Review Score: 3/5

Produced by Flood (U2, The Killers, Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins) and mixed by his longtime collaborator Alan Moulder (who had previously mixed Interpol and El Pintor), The Other Side of Make-Believe finds Interpol working with a new producer yet again, though the issues with the band’s last few albums were more to do with the songwriting and not the production. Thankfully though, Interpol sounds a little more inspired here than they have recently, making for an album that, while not great, is slightly more dynamic and varied than Interpol or Marauder, but not quite as good as El Pintor.

Toni (the lead single and opening track) is slightly more optimistic than your typical gloomy Interpol track, and is accompanied by piano. Fables is one of their better post-2000s singles, with a somewhat memorable hook. Something Changed is a little bit jazzy, which is new for Interpol. Gran Hotel starts with a minute long intro, though the rest of the song isn’t really experimental at all. Even the more derivative post-punk revival tracks like Into the Night, Mr. Credit and Passenger are quite enjoyable, though songs like Renegade Hearts, Greenwich, Big Shot City and Go Easy (Palermo) start getting tedious by the end of the album.

Like El Pintor was to their eponymous album, The Other Side of Make-Believe is an improvement to its own predecessor, Marauder, but it fails to match or surpass the aforementioned El Pintor (which itself was only good, not great). With the help of a solid producer, Interpol continues to make reliable post-punk revival music, but by their seventh album, they’ve started to sound like a one-trick pony.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Interpol on Discogs.

Back to the 2022 Album Reviews Guide or the Interpol Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard