‘Mirror, Mirror’: Interpol Steps Into The Future

As expected, Interpol’s fall tour will indeed come in support of a new album. This Mirror Weighs a Ton will be released Aug. 28 as the first in a new deal with New York-based indie Partisan Records (IDLES, Geese) and is led by its title track and the song “See Out Loud,” both of which can be sampled below.

The 12-song This Mirror Weighs a Ton was produced by Andrew Wyatt, who has known Interpol core members Paul Banks and Daniel Kessler for years but never officially worked with the group before. In addition to being recorded at Wyatt’s New York studio — Interpol’s first session work in its hometown in more than a decade — the project was mixed by longtime collaborator Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT).

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These first two song previews evidence both the band’s desire to continue growing artistically and the enduring power of its root sound, which continues to win Interpol new fans more than 25 years into its career. Indeed, the group’s 2024 concert at Mexico City’s Zócalo drew more than 200,000 people — by far Interpol’s biggest audience ever.

The five-minute-plus title track wobbles as if being transmitted from underwater, with odd-sounding effects, a soulful Banks vocal and even wordless female cooings filtering through the speakers at one point. “We’re never really done but we’re here to wax sunny,” Banks sings. “All the kings are gone, but the maniac in your head still sleeps in archways alone, as an act of faith.”

“I was right next to Andrew when he started doing these incredible things with the sound design, and it was just so exciting,” Kessler says of the title track in a new Interpol bio. “I remember thinking, I don’t have context for what kind of music this is — these big crashes happening before Paul even had a vocal. Logic would have said maybe this is an instrumental. Then Paul just got up, went into the back room and started singing those melodies — and suddenly it was clearly not going to be.”

In contrast, the head-nodding “See Out Loud” almost sounds as if it has been beamed into the future from Turn on the Bright Lights, Interpol’s iconic 2002 Matador debut. “I’m not here to contain you,” Banks instructs. “I’m just here to let you out.” Kessler actually sings a verse too, marking his first major vocal contribution on record since Bright Lights‘ “PDA.” The track has been featured in nearly all of Interpol’s 2026 concerts, as has the similarly propulsive album cut “Wings on Fire.”

This Mirror Weighs a Ton is the follow-up to 2022’s The Other Side of Make-Believe, Interpol’s fourth album for Matador since returning to its first label home. Its artwork is a piece by artist Addie Wagenknecht currently held in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s permanent collection.

The band’s roadwork in support of Mirror will begin July 31 in Denver and will run through Oct. 17 in Nashville. Youth Lagoon, Loathe, julie, DIIV and French Police will open at various points.

Here is the track list for This Mirror Weighs a Ton:

This Mirror Weighs a Ton
See Out Loud
Iron City
Wounded Soldier
Wings on Fire
Ever the Actor
So Rides the Reindeer
Darling Thoughts
Wake Up
Enemy
Bird and the Serpent
Sudden

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