STILL JEALOUS- OUT 02.11.22
Listen to ‘Where Does The Good Go’
Sara,
We’ve never been great at doing nothing, you and me. As self-described efficiency experts, we are well-meaning know-it-alls and extreme multitaskers. Some who have worked closely with us might also add workaholics to our list of attributes. I don’t think either of us would contest that description, though we might try and tell you we could stop working if we really wanted to.
We’re terrible at taking time off, relaxing, and the art of doing nothing. So when the Pandemic hit, we didn't really slow down. Somehow, we got busier. First, we had to cancel the tour we just announced and then figure out how to promote our still sort of new album Hey, I’m Just Like You. We had remixes made by some of our favorite artists, and commissioned music videos for said remixes, then decided to shoot some of those videos ourselves. That got us through spring. We launched a t-shirt subscription and did monthly zooms with the members to stay connected over the summer. You gardened, I got a puppy, we ate a lot of chips. After six months of being holed up in our respective homes, we sold a TV show based on our memoir High School, pitched and sold a new book about being twins, that will also be an audio series on the same topic. And wrote the first draft of a graphic novel we owed our publisher (about being twins). All that time we were doing an Instagram TV show called, Where Does the Good Grow? (What’s wrong with us?!)
To everyone around us, we seemed busier than ever. And we were. But somehow, it wasn’t enough. At least not for you. I remember in mid-July, on our weekly creative call you told me and our management team that you had an idea for another project. Basically, So Jealous, but reimagined. You’d cover my songs, I’d cover yours. Only one rule: we had to record the songs using an acoustic guitar. No keyboards, no programming, no bells, and whistles. I was thinking, WHY!? But then, on July 21st, 2020, you emailed the first two songs you’d recorded,
“…still fooling around with these but...”
You Wouldn’t Like Me and Take Me Anywhere downloaded and automatically added themselves to my iTunes. I grinned goofily as Take Me Anywhere started to play. I always thought you found my songs from that era too silly or punk-pop. You’d always tease me a little about them. It was actually really cool to hear you interpret them now. They were instantly stronger, more melancholy, heavier. I emailed you back sixty-one minutes later,
“These sound great. Took some time yesterday to start working my way through your stuff on the record Sara, to plot out guitar, etc. I definitely love the idea of this project and also think that it can truly stand on its own. Might be a perfect record to drop at Christmas, if we love it and WARNER is supportive?”
I’d been feeling a bit lackluster about writing new songs but you seemed to have enough creative energy when it came to music for both of us. While I was genuinely enthused, I must admit it was daunting to imagine reimagining anything, let alone your songs from an album we’d released sixteen years earlier. But it definitely had a hand in reminding me how to write and record —something I’d gotten a bit lazy about. The bonus was the structures of your songs from that album are so nontraditional. I believe we’ve become better songwriters in the last sixteen years, but our arrangements have become more traditional. Not a bad thing, we just straightened everything out a bit. And it was actually really inspiring to go back and hear how unique and at times difficult the arrangements you dreamed up all those years ago were.
SO JEALOUS is one of our records people constantly say they love. Spending so much time with it reminded me I could be unique and difficult in my writing again if I wanted. STILL JEALOUS helped me reimagine Tegan and Sara and what we could do next. If we wanted to. I don’t know what you were hoping for with the album — maybe you really are just a workaholic who can’t sit still. Either way, I’m glad we finished the album and are releasing it into the world.
-Tegan
Share this post