I’ve been listening to the new New Pornographers album (Microsoft Word doesn’t like it when I type “new” twice in a row), Challenger, and I really dig it.

I need to qualify this.

The first couple of reviews I read were pretty negative, but they compared Challenger to NP’s previous album Twin Cinema, which was a masterwork of rock/pop. No, Challenger isn’t as good an album. It doesn’t have the same fun factor, it isn’t quite as inspired, lacks the sheer exuberance. But it’s a more mature musical statement, a necessary and enjoyable step in the growth of the band. They’re exploring new sounds without abandoning their roots. It’s folksier and earthier. It’s contemplative where their previous albums were explosive.

They could have produced another Twin Cinema, but bands that tread water are the bands that get forgotten. And the critics would have panned them then for making more of the same. Remember the Beatles? There’s a reason why. Every album was an adventure. Not to ascribe such lofty status to an indie rock outfit, but they’re on the right road to making consistently fresh and meaningful music. Check it out.