Tegan & Sara have probably never made a bad album, but in 2013 — with six releases and a dozen years under their collective belt — they made their best album. Disagree? Sure, lots of people will. Some fans have an abiding fondness for the duo’s early indie-folk material; some prefer the electro-leaning eclecticism of their more recent work. But the Quin sisters’ decision to make a radio-ready synth-pop album this time around not only gave them a more colorful palette to work with, it provided the single best context for their unerring senses of melody and joyously lovesick lyrics. Of an entire catalog filled with breakup anthems, none is more compelling than Heartthrob advance track “Now I’m All Messed Up” … EXCEPT Heartthrob’s second single, “I Was A Fool.” And maybe Heartthrob’s third single, “Goodbye, Goodbye.” And while cinematic emo dolor is, as usual, Tegan & Sara’s primary subject, it’s not their only subject: Album opener and lead single “Closer” is a dancefloor banger with a libidinous emphasis on the bangin’; “I’m Not Your Hero” is an apologetic conversation with — if not an apology to — the young and/or queer fans who have put the band on a pedestal only to find them unworthy of worship. Aurally, everything here is bright and dynamic and almost sinfully delightful. When the sisters’ voices blend and blur, and the choruses hit their driving climaxes, it’s nearly Abba-esque in its perfection: endless layers of beat and bombast, melody and melancholy. –Michael [LISTEN]