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CORRESPONDENT

For the first time in their career, Tegan & Sara say they sound like themselves on a CD.

"My first experiences in the studio were never really, like, ultimately they weren't that positive," Tegan Quin said. "I was always happy with the product we finished with. But I found it very frustrating and also I felt boxed in in the studio. I felt very out of control. I didn't feel like necessarily the final product was what I wanted it to be."

That's not to say Quin and her sister, Sara, didn't see progress, especially with their second and third CDs, "If It Was You" and "So Jealous." But the recently released fourth CD, "The Con," has Tegan singing a thoroughly satisfied tune.

"There were no surprises," she said. "I was like 'Yeah, it sounds exactly like what I wanted to hear.'" In reality, Quin may be a bit hard on the previous Tegan & Sara CDs. Since releasing their debut disc, "Under Feet Like Ours," in 1999, the duo from Vancouver, British Columbia has steadily gained fans and critical acclaim.

After releasing the largely acoustic follow-up "This Business Of Art" in 2000, "If It Was You" introduced Tegan & Sara in the format the Quin sisters had always intended - as a plugged-in rock band. The duo matched the newly amped up pop-rock sound by writing a consistently catchy group of songs.

"So Jealous" expanded on the sonic blueprint of the previous CD, as Tegan & Sara diversified their sound and showed a more adventurous side to their music.

"The Con" cuts a far wider and more unpredictable, stylistic swath.

Even songs that feel like conventional pop tunes come with intriguing quirks, be it through the gauzy sonics that add intimacy to "Relief Next To Me," the deceptively childlike instrumental feel of "Back In Your Head," or the way the pounding drums and dry guitar of "Nineteen" add emotional urgency. And on songs like "Knife Going In" and "Are You Ten Years Ago," Tegan & Sara use unconventional time signatures, creative combinations of instruments and unexpected twists in arrangements to reshape and even distort the pop song format.

Fresh, fascinating

Somehow, the album hangs together nicely, and the sonic and stylistic adventure within the music makes "The Con" sound fresh and fascinating after multiple listens.

"The Con," obviously, came out exactly as the Quin sisters intended. And in making the CD with co-producer Chris Walla (of Death Cab For Cutie), Tegan & Sara took some specific steps to make sure the album they envisioned didn't get lost in translation between the writing and recording stages.

The first decision was to take the time needed to make sure the songs had progressed to the point the Quin sisters intended.

"We took eight months and wrote probably 25 songs, 30 songs," Tegan said. "We demoed them extensivelyWe just really didn't hold back in any regard, like in terms of demoing or songwriting or time and stuff." Then, rather than taking the standard approach of recording drums and bass first, Tegan & Sara had Walla record all their instrumental and vocal parts first and then adding bass, drums and other instruments.

"Instead of going in and making the drums and bass the foundation, it was us that was the foundation," Tegan said. "So it's cohesive because it's us all the way through that's really driving the record."

A third key decision was to choose the song sequence for "The Con" before recording began.

"We recorded as much of it as we could in sequence," she said. "I feel like the record makes sense because it was built to sound that way. It was built to run in that order. It was created in that image, I guess."

Of course, capturing the sonic vision for "The Con" was one issue. But Tegan is also proud of the new CD because, with the greater musical variety and sophistication of the album, it shows how she and Sara have grown as songwriters as well.

"I definitely feel like we've gotten stronger as we've gotten older, which is what's making us probably feel more creative and adventurous," Tegan said.

"We started making records when we were 18. We were so young," she said. "And at 27 now, I have played hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of shows and toured the world over the last nine years. When I sit down to write a song now, it comes out so differently and it comes out clearly."

Tegan said fans that see the group live will hear plenty of songs off of "The Con" as well as a generous sampling of earlier material. The touring format should allow Tegan & Sara to bring even some of the most unusual songs to life on stage.

"We have a great group of people out with us and we play as a five-piece," Tegan said. "We're playing 12 of the 14 songs on 'The Con.' That means we need a lot of hands."