Tegan and Sara celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their 2007 album, The Con, with a collection of covers of each song from 14 various artists. As a result, The Con X: Covers was born.
The sister duo released The Con X: Covers on Oct. 20, and began the tour for the album soon after. According to their artist statement on their website, when deciding how to celebrate the album’s anniversary, they knew they wanted to play the album in a live tour.
“Almost immediately we established that a tour playing all 14 songs in a more intimate and stripped-down arrangement would be special and memorable for our diehard fans,” the statement read.
All proceeds from the album are to be donated to the sisters’ new charity, the Tegan and Sara Foundation. The foundation raises money for all self-identified women and girls in the LGBTQ+ community.
Tegan and Sara reached out to 14 artists who are either a part of the LGBT+ community, or have been outwardly vocal allies. All of the artists involved, including Hayley Williams of Paramore, CHVRCHES and Shamir, donated their time to the project, and their record labels agreed to waive all fees. Therefore, all of the proceeds are able to go towards helping their charity’s effort.
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As the sisters’ fifth studio album, The Con touched on more personal and, at times, darker themes than albums prior — recent relationship problems and losses in their family impacted the perspective of the album greatly, in the way many of the songs channeled the concept of endings.
The immediate reception to the album catapulted the band to indie rock stardom, as the album charted at number 4 in Canada and number 34 on the U.S.’s Billboard 200.
Ten years removed from the original album, a lot has changed. Tegan and Sara have further cemented themselves in the indie pop music scene, and have made connections in the industry as demonstrated in the recent album.
The covers on The Con X: Covers all feel extremely different from their predecessors, showing both the evolution of the discography in 10 years and reflecting individual styles of each of the artists involved in the project.
While the essence of each cover remains the same, each artist added their own personal touch, revealing the adaptability each of Tegan and Sara’s songs have.
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Some artists stripped down certain songs, and played them slower to further highlight the emotional lyrics within. Perhaps one of the most memorable songs from the album, “Nineteen,” was covered by Hayley Williams. Her voice has a sense of softness that combatted the original’s angst, and complimented the song in a newly mature way.
Much of the revamped album felt that same way — somehow older and more mature ten years removed, yet still as relatable as the original.
While the original The Con will always remain superior, The Con X: Covers felt heartfelt to us old fans, as if a new chapter was added to a book we thought was complete. The album that was once so familiar has now been reinvented — and it feels like getting to know an old friend all over again.
