Date: October 22, 2009
Author: Kate Harper
Publication: CHARTattack
Headline: Tegan And Sara New Orleans Sessions EP Possible

Tegan And Sara began working on material for their upcoming new album, Sainthood, with their first ever co-writing sessions in New Orleans late last year.

None of the songs they wrote during that time made it onto Sainthood, but Sara Quin says that doesn't mean she and her sister Tegan Quin won't release them sometime in the future.

"I would, at some point — specifically with the New Orleans material because the songs all sound like each other sonically and they're written in that same way, that they kind of feel very cohesive — I would love to put out an EP or something," Sara Quin says.

"I feel like we've talked about [the material from the New Orleans sessions] so much now that people would be interested in hearing it, even though it's quite lo-fi."

The Quins wrote over 50 demos for Sainthood separately, together and with other people. (Tegan Quin co-wrote several of the album's songs with AFI bassist Hunter Burgan.) They then sent them to Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla, who co-produced the album with Howard Redekopp (The New Pornographers, Said The Whale).

When Tegan And Sara began playing the songs in the studio, they narrowed down the selection from 50 tunes to 17 tracks, and that meant they eventually ruled out recording any of the songs they wrote in New Orleans.

"I feel attached to [all of the songs]," Sara Quin says. "I always know which material is stand-out, and which should be on the record, but then there's always the 'I really love this one, but would anybody else really like it?' and probably one of my favourite songs that didn't make it on the album would be, like, the most depressing, least favourite song ever.

"You have to actually calculate that it's all our material and it has all the same intention, and yet, we know our audience well enough that we know that they're potentially not the best songs for the record."

Sainthood is out on Tuesday (Oct. 27), and you can see Tegan And Sara at these shows in support of it:

Oct. 25-26 Portland, OR @ Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre w/ Laura Veirs
Oct. 30-31 New York, NY @ Town Hall w/ Katie Stelmanis
Nov. 13 London, England @ O2 Shepherds Bush Empire w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 14 Manchester, England @ Manchester Academy 2 w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 15 Edinburgh, Scotland @ HMV Picture House w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 18 Paris, France @ Alhambra w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 20 The Hague, Netherlands @ Crossing Border Festival
Nov. 21 Lund, Sweden @ Mejeriet w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 22 Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 23 Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser Medis w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 25 Hamburg, Germany @ Grunspan w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 26 Berlin, Germany @ Astra w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 27 Munich, Germany @ Theaterfabrik w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 28 Cologne, Germany @ E-Werk w/ Astronautalis
Nov. 30 Brussels, Belgium @ L'Ancienne Belgique Flex w/ Astronautalis
Dec. 21 Victoria, BC @ Save On Foods Memorial Centre w/ AFI and Jets Overhead
Jan. 5-6 Vancouver, BC @ The Orpheum Theatre w/ An Horse
Jan. 7 Kelowna, BC @ Community Theatre w/ An Horse
Jan. 8-9 Calgary, AB @ Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium w/ An Horse
Jan. 11-12 Edmonton, AB @ Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium w/ An Horse
Jan. 13 Saskatoon, SK @ TCU Place w/ An Horse
Jan. 14-15 Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre w/ An Horse
Jan. 18 Montreal, QC @ Place Des Arts w/ An Horse
Jan. 19 Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall w/ An Horse
Jan. 20 Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus w/ An Horse
Jan. 22-23 Ottawa, ON @ Bronson Centre w/ An Horse
Jan. 25 Quebec City, QC @ L'Imperial De Quebec w/ An Horse
Jan. 26 Fredericton, NB @ The Playhouse Theatre w/ An Horse
Jan. 27 Halifax, NS @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium at Dalhousie University w/ An Horse
Feb. 12 Northampton, MA @ Calvin Theater
Feb. 13 Boston, MA @ The Orpheum Theater
Feb. 16 Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre
Feb. 17 Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
Feb. 18 Richmond, VA @ The National
Feb. 20 Tampa, FL @ Tampa Theater
Feb. 21 Boca Raton, FL @ Sunset Cove
Feb. 23 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
Feb. 24 New Orleans, LA @ Tipitina's
Feb. 25 Dallas, TX @ Palladium
Feb. 26 Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall
Feb. 27 Houston, TX @ The Warehouse
March 2 Las Vegas, NV @ House Of Blues
March 3 San Diego, CA @ Copley Symphony Hall
March 5 Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater
March 24 Minneapolis, MN @ The Orpheum Theatre
March 25 Milwaukee, WI @ The Riverside Theatre
March 26 Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
March 27 Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Theater
March 28 Cleveland, OH @ Lakewood Civic Center
March 30 Columbus, OH @ PromoWest Pavilion
April 2 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
April 3 Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
April 4 Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theater
April 6 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
April 8 Portland, OR @ Keller Auditorium