Tegan and Sara Ride Their Momentum to SA

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This is turning out to be a monumental year for Tegan and Sara. If they aren’t already on your radar, we dare you to take one listen to Heartthrob and not love it.

In their first true venture into the pop world (notwithstanding previous EDM collaborations with David Guetta, Tiesto and Morgan Page), the twins didn’t just decide to not shy away from a pop sound—they set out to crush it, tackling the mainstream with the same integrity and vulnerability that they built their careers on.

“It was time to update the ‘Tegan and Sara sound,’” said Tegan in press materials. “We wanted to cover topics like love and relationships but from a different angle. I’d never romanticized love the way that I did on this record before. I had never written a romantic, sweet, nostalgic love song. I had never been bold before.”

What resulted was Heartthrob, their seventh studio album. Released on January 29, it entered the Billboard 200 chart at number 3, their highest chart position to date. The super catchy, crush-inducing single “Closer” was featured on Glee and is receiving radio play on Top 40 stations across the country, something that previously eluded them. “No one will confuse this with any of our other records,” Sara said. “It’s got a bigger, bolder, happier sound.”

The duo is also receiving significant attention for some recent live collaborations. At the Osheaga Festival on August 3, they joined Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for a beautiful performance of the LGBT anthem “Same Love.” On August 20, the sisters made a surprise appearance at Taylor Swift’s Red Tour in Los Angeles to sing “Closer.”

“I think this album is one of my favorites of all time,” said Swift at the show. No small praise from one of pop’s current queens.

In fact, the admiration doesn’t stop with Swift; everyone from the Black Keys—who took them out on tour last year—to the National have shown Tegan and Sara much love lately. Heartthrob is an ambitious title to live up to, but the self-admitted NKOTB fans definitely deliver on the moniker. The twins balance the lyrics sublimely with empowering anthems and aching vulnerability all in the same breath. The polished pop gems inspire reflection on your childhood crushes, your first love and subsequent heartbreaks. They also cause a bunch of booty shaking and fist pumping.

Breaking away from their current opening act duties touring with fun., Tegan and Sara will headline Saturday at Sunset Station, where you can show off those dance moves you’ve been practicing in your room while you sing along to “Closer.”