Broken Dreams Club Interview: The New Pornographers
On March 27, Canadian indie rock legends the New Pornographers released their 10th studio album, “The Former Site Of.” The release came after a tumultuous period for the band, following the arrest and conviction of drummer Joe Seiders on possession of child pornography.
Understandably subdued and emotionally complex, “The Former Site Of” eschews the through-the-roof choruses and ebullient flourishes of the band’s past efforts, instead focusing on setting a distinct mood and atmosphere. The album is an undeniable success, a clear distillation of a band evolving from its easier power-pop roots into something broader and harder-to-define.
Broken Dreams Club spoke with the New Pornographers’ chief songwriter, A.C. Newman, about moving on past the group’s recent tribulations, keeping their band name, appreciating music and fans more than ever, and revisiting San Francisco, where he essentially lived off and on for a year.
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So, you’re now about two weeks into this big North American tour. How are the shows going so far?
They’ve been really great, you know? We’ve never been so well rehearsed, because our first three shows were Boston, New York City and Philadelphia. We felt like we couldn’t learn as we go with those shows to start the tour. We had to be in absolute fighting mode. We did basically twice as much rehearsing as we normally do. But it was great to just jump on stage for your first gig and feel really confident.
Just like the New Pornographers, I’m a huge fan of Okkervil River. How did you all connect with Will Sheff for this tour?
Will is a good friend. He lives in LA and we live in Woodstock, so we don’t get to see him as much now. We have a cottage on our property and there was a point where he and his girlfriend were in the process of leaving New York and they were kind of in this in-between living situation. So, we just said, come live in our cottage. They ended up staying for six months. It was this amazing experience. I consider him one of my really good friends, so it’s nice to spend this month together.
You played a few shows last month, and now you’re in the middle on this big tour. How nice has it been to get out in front of fans after what has been a tumultuous two years for the band?
It’s been good—then whole experience has been kind of sobering. I felt like a drunk person who sobers up and got a little bit of clarity. You really see what you have to appreciate in the world. These past two years really made me appreciate music more. It made me go onto this tour with this attitude, of ‘I'm looking forward to doing this, and I like playing music with my friends, and I think we're really good.’ If there’s less people because of what happened, well, I can't control that. But that hasn't been the reaction at all. I’ve felt, for lack of a better word, a certain amount of love. There is this kind of, ‘we got your back, man, we haven't left you’ feel to the audiences. And I appreciate that so much. It’s a real thing that I've never really felt before. I mean, sometimes people are on stage and you see a lot of fake sincerity. But for me, right now I feel like putting my hand on my chest and saying, ‘oh my god, you're still here, thank you’ after every show.
I’m not sure how much more you want to delve into the arrest of Joe Seiders, but, if I could ask—did the thought ever cross your mind of ditching the New Pornographers name and just moving forward as A.C. Newman?
In the initial couple of days after it happened, everybody was like, ‘well, you can't call yourself that name anymore.’ And then it all passed. You realize people have forgotten a month later—people can barely remember it happened. I was talking to Eleanor Friedberger a little while ago and she was asking how I’ve been and I said, ‘well, it’s been a crazy year.’ And she had no idea what I was talking about. I told her to Google us and you’ll figure it out. It just doesn’t feel that important anymore. I mean, obviously it was a horrible thing, but it's nothing I want to dwell on. I also don't feel the urge to avoid it. Yeah, it was horrible for everybody, but we got through it.
Ok—let’s talk about this great new album, “The Former Site Of.” The album title and even the font on the album cover seem meant to delineate the difference between the New Pornographers of 2026 and those of 2000. This album is more subdued and emotionally ambiguous. I’m assuming it would be disingenuous to try and constantly recreate the feel and tenor of “Mass Romantic” at this point in your career, right?
Yeah—I've realized there really is no reward for that approach. There have been songs I’ve written in recent years that I’ve been convinced people will like, and that’s never been the case. And I don't think this album is any more subdued than “Challengers,” but maybe it’s more subdued than “Mass Romantic.” But when we’re playing songs from this album they seem to flow seamlessly with songs from our back catalog. To me, it feels very fluid.
The album feels pretty drenched in this kind of gallows humor. ”Wish You Could See Me I’m Killing It,” has this hyperbolic title which contrasts with this very quiet, almost somber song, and the album opener, “Great Princess Story,” kicks off the record with this line “quite a view from my deck chair/Sailing on this ship of doom.” Were you in a particular mood of not suffering fools when writing this album?
A lot of people have said this record is kind of downbeat, but for me, it was really about travelling through tragedy. It’s a record of not dwelling on things. It was about accepting bad things have happened, looking straight at them, and then moving on. Maybe that bums people out, but I actually think this is a hopeful record. “Great Princess Story” is meant to be this dark comedy about a woman stuck on a cruise ship during Covid. I was really trying to write like Nick Lowe for that one. He has a great way of writing songs that are funny, but aren’t comedy.
There are also these poignant moments of resilience. ”Pure Sticker Shock” has this very quiet but important message about your self-worth. Was it important to include songs on this album that reminded yourself and others and your value—to almost act as a positive mantra for the band? A reminder of how meaningful the New Pornographers are to so many people?
I mean, I appreciate that. I try to remember that it doesn't matter if you're the most popular band, as long as you have your own niche. I have a son who’s 14 years old and when I’m around him, it reminds me that everybody doesn't need to love you, but you do want this one person to love you. The people you care about are the ones that matter. It’s so important to appreciate everybody that's in your life, and not spend your life trying to convince more people to love you.
The album is this test case of the power of restraint. The songs build and gather momentum without this big crescendo. Did you try to maintain that element of suspense—to show how songs can be emotionally powerful and cathartic even without that big soaring moment?
I think so—it was also just this kind of instinct I had for the album. I found myself removing things at the end of the record. I wanted to boil it down to just essential things—to get rid of all the unnecessary detail. If I could turn something off and not feel anything was missing, I would leave it off.
Synths have always been a part of the power pop formula for New Pornographers, but they really take on a more noticeable and profound presence on the “Former Site Of.” They’re more about setting mood and atmosphere than about adding to this cacophony of sounds like they have in the past. Was there a new emphasis on exploring how these electronic elements can be used to create this specific feel on the album?
Well, I haven’t really studied our albums, but I think in the past, we were very much a rock band that would just add synths over the top of everything. But for this album, the synthesizers feel almost like the rhythm section. I wanted to have these folks songs that were really driven by synths, kind of these Americana psychedelic songs. I think of songs like ‘Wichita Lineman.” That’s very much an Americana song, but also this weird psychedelic song as well.
The title track is a pretty epic way to close out the album, and if you look at the lyrics too closely, one could almost see it as a swan song for The New Pornographers. Was that intentional? Do you see this as a coda for the band? (I’m really hoping that’s not the case.)
With that song, it really had to be the first or last song on the album. I thought “Great Princess Story” and “Former Site Of” were good bookends. We ended up closing with “Former Site Of,” but that wasn’t supposed to be any commentary on the band. The song is about a town getting buried underwater, because America has to expand. It was saying how we as individuals are being sacrificed to the country. This unstoppable growth.
Because of some of the band members, you’ve been dubbed a “supergroup” for decades, which I’m sure gets annoying (and apologies for bringing this up again!) Neko Case is a strong presence on this album, but Dan Bejar is absent. Did you reach out to him at all about participating in this album or was he just too busy with his solo thing?
It’s weird, because Dan and I are friends, but he basically left the band at the end of 2000. He went to Spain and I thought, ‘well, I guess he's gone’. And then he came back in 2002 and I said, ‘since you're back, you want to be on the next record?’ And he said, ‘sure’. It’s kind of always been the case of nothing being written in stone with Dan. He’s a friend of mine and we talk and text on a semi-regular basis. I know he’s got his own thing. There’s always been a good dynamic between us, because I always know where he stands and I don’t try to push him on anything. So we just didn’t connect for this album.
Are you excited to be coming back to San Francisco? Do you always feel like you get a nice reaction when you play here? I first saw you guys play with Belle and Sebastian at the old Concourse Design Center here—it was an amazing show.
I love coming back to San Francisco. Before I met my wife, I was dating a woman in San Francisco, so I basically lived here for about a year. I would just wander around by myself, because it’s such a walkable city. I just love the vibe of the place. Every time I come back I always visit my favorite breakfast places. I love Zazie in Cole Valley. And Mama’s in North Beach.
Do you know anything about the Castro Theatre? It’s a historical movie theater that was recently renovated.
I've never been there. I know where it is and I can picture the neighborhood around it and what it looks like, but I've never been inside. I was always sad that I never got to see the Wizard of Oz there. Sounds like it was a real experience.
You’ve got tour dates lined up through the end of May. What’s the rest of the year look like? Will you be playing more shows?
Yeah, we're doing another three and a half weeks of touring in September. We will be hitting places we didn't get to this first time around. I don’t know if we’ll be doing Europe and the UK. I just kind of go where I'm told, and when I go home, I just keep working on music. That's kind of my life.
Show Details:
The New Pornographers with Will Sheff
Where: The Castro Theatre
When: 8 p.m., Monday, May 11
Tickets: $58 - $126, available here.