Sainthood (album)

Background

This is the first album by Tegan and Sara to feature a song co-written by the pair, as they usually choose to write separately. However, it was not written while Tegan and Sara stayed together in New Orleans as an attempt to write together. No songs from that time made it on to the album, although one such song lends its title to that of the record. The album title was inspired by a Leonard Cohen lyric. The record also includes co-written songs from Tegan's side project with Hunter Burgan, bassist of AFI.

The album is described by the band as such:

Tegan and Sara's sixth studio album – Sainthood – addresses secular themes of devotion, delusion, and exemplary behavior in the pursuit of love and relationships. Inspired by emotional longing and the quiet actions we hope may be noticed by the objects of our affection, Sainthood is about obsession with romantic ideals.

In the service of relationships we practice being perfect. We practice our sainthood in the hope that we will be rewarded with adoration. As we are driven to become anything for someone else, we sometimes become martyrs for our cause.

Love, like faith, can never be held in an individual's hands. But the story of a great love affair – especially one that is unrequited or has ended too soon – can be woven like scripture or a bedtime story. And so the themes of Sainthood are tied together by this simple title, borrowed, with great respect, from the lyrics of the Leonard Cohen song "Came So Far for Beauty":

I practiced all my sainthood / I gave to one and all / But the rumours of my virtue / They moved her not at all.

Sainthood was released in the UK on 26 October 2009.

The album was produced by Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla and was tracked at Sound City Studios in Los Angeles and Two Sticks Audio in Seattle during the summer of 2009.

Tegan and Sara released the full album for online streaming on their MySpace page on 20 October 2009.

EE Storey, the band's artistic director, designed the album artwork.

When speaking with Alter the Press! in November 2009, the band revealed that the second single to be lifted from Sainthood would be "Alligator".

Critical reception

The album was generally well received by critics, scoring 78 out of 100 from 17 reviews on review aggregator Metacritic.

The album debuted at #21 on the Billboard 200, selling 22,665 copies in its first week.

Their song "Hell" came in at number 99 on the Australian Triple J Hottest 100 in 2009.

Track listing

All tracks written by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin, except where noted.

Personnel

Charts

As of December 2013, Sainthood has sold 115,000 copies in the United States.