Tegan And Sara Fight Prop 8, Work On New Album

02/13/09 5:28pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Tegan And Sara are asking fans to sign a petition against a lawsuit that aims to nullify all same-sex marriages performed in California before the state passed Proposition 8.

California residents narrowly voted to approve the law, which banned same-sex marriage in the state, during the 2008 U.S. election. Former U.S. Solicitor General Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit on Dec. 19 which seeks to nullify the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed before Proposition 8 was passed. Starr is probably best known for leading the investigation into the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal which led to Clinton's impeachment.

The California Supreme Court is due to hear arguments for and against Proposition 8 on March 5. Tegan And Sara posted a message on their website on Thursday encouraging fans to sign this petition, which asks the California Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8.

Tegan And Sara also updated fans about their upcoming sixth album on their MySpace page on Thursday. The Quin twins interviewed each other in a somewhat cryptic blog entry before they went to "disappear into a cloak of mystery" while recording the album.

Tegan And Sara will again work with producer and Death Cab For Cutie guitarist Chris Walla on the album. They completed a few days of "pre-production" last week in Vancouver, during which they apparently lived with each other, which is something they haven't done in years. (Tegan lives in Vancouver, while Sara calls Montreal home.)

"We had specifically requested to NOT have to live together while making this record and so it made me feel very special when you asked [to live with me]," Tegan writes in the entry.

"I suppose our relationship is maturing. Naturally of course. We don't yell or hit anymore. I can't remember the last time someone close to us said they would have to go to therapy after being around us for an extended period of time."

The Quin twins filmed the recording sessions for 2007's The Con and shot a mini-talk show in which they interviewed their friends and family members. The segments were eventually released on a DVD that came with the limited-edition version of The Con. But the sisters' MySpace post says they won't be doing that this time around.

"We decided that we wouldn't be doing very much documentation on this record. What I mean is, we won't be recording a talk show in our basement every night. Do you feel relief about that?" Sara asked her sister.

"I do in a way," Tegan replied. "But I do think we need to capture as much of the actual recording as we can. Be it through our own filming or photography or through someone else's camera etc.

"Looking back there are so many tours we didn't take any photos or footage of and I feel sad about that. We definitely need to be more diligent about capturing it for all the treasure chest of memories. That being said I will not be putting on a wireless mic every day this time NO."