The New Pornographers

Biography

The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1997 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Presented as a musical collective and supergroup of singer-songwriters and musicians from multiple projects, the band currently consists of Carl Newman (vocals, guitar), Neko Case (vocals), John Collins (bass), Todd Fancey (guitar), and Kathryn Calder (keyboards, backing vocals).
The band has released ten studio albums to date and have received critical acclaim for their use of multiple vocalists and songwriters, as well as for the elements of power pop incorporated into their music. Pitchfork has described the band's sound as "peppy, gleeful, headstrong guitar pop", while Stereogum has retrospectively praised the band's debut album Mass Romantic×Mass Romantic24 October 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Mass Romantic4:042The Fake Headlines2:463The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism3:574Mystery Hours3:115Jackie2:476Letter From an Occupant3:467To Wild Homes3:348The Body Says No3:569Execution Day3:0010Centre for Holy Wars3:0811The Mary Martin Show3:1912Breakin’ the Law3:28 as "one of the greatest" power pop albums.

History

The New Pornographers' name was chosen by Carl Newman, who has said that he came up with it because he was a fan of a Japanese film called The Pornographers. It was also an homage to the New Seekers and "The Pornographers," a track on bandmate Dan Bejar's first Destroyer album, We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge. The band has released ten albums to date: Mass Romantic×Mass Romantic24 October 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Mass Romantic4:042The Fake Headlines2:463The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism3:574Mystery Hours3:115Jackie2:476Letter From an Occupant3:467To Wild Homes3:348The Body Says No3:569Execution Day3:0010Centre for Holy Wars3:0811The Mary Martin Show3:1912Breakin’ the Law3:28 (2000), Electric Version×Electric Version25 April 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1The Electric Version2:542From Blown Speakers2:493The Laws Have Changed3:264The End of Medicine2:385Loose Translation3:006Chump Change4:187All for Swinging You Around3:428The New Face of Zero and One4:119Testament to Youth in Verse3:5810It’s Only Divine Right4:1211Ballad of a Comeback Kid3:5112July Jones4:1813Miss Teen Wordpower3:25 (2003), Twin Cinema×Twin Cinema23 August 2005 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Twin Cinema2:592The Bones of an Idol2:523Use It3:274The Bleeding Heart Show4:275Jackie, Dressed in Cobras3:066The Jessica Numbers3:077These Are the Fables3:308Sing Me Spanish Techno4:179Falling Through Your Clothes2:5410Broken Breads3:0011Three or Four3:0712Star Bodies4:0713Streets of Fire2:4214Stacked Crooked4:19 (2005), Challengers (2007), Together (2010), Brill Bruisers (2014), Whiteout Conditions (2017), In the Morse Code of Brake Lights (2019), Continue as a Guest (2023), and The Former Site Of. A live album recorded on their 2006 tour is available only at concerts and on the band's website. In 2005, the band was the subject of Reginald Harkema's documentary film Better Off in Bed.
The New Pornographers' first four albums each placed in the top 40 on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop year-end poll of hundreds of music reviewers. From 2000 to 2006, either a New Pornographers' album or a solo album from one of the band's members ranked in the top 40 on the list each year. In 2007, Blender magazine ranked the New Pornographers' first album, Mass Romantic, the 24th best indie album of all time. In 2009, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the band's second studio album, Electric Version, No. 79 in the "100 Best Albums of the Decade".
In 2004 the band were the subjects of Better Off in Bed, a documentary film by Reginald Harkema about their 2002 concert tour of Western Canada, but were reportedly unhappy with the way they were portrayed in the film and intervened to prevent wider release following its limited distribution on the film festival circuit.
All of the New Pornographers' original members were prominent within the Vancouver music scene prior to forming the band. Kathryn Calder, who is also Newman's niece, joined the band in 2005 largely as a live replacement for Neko Case, whose solo career often left her unavailable to perform with the band. Calder's first lead vocals for the band were on 2007's Challengers, singing the lead on "Failsafe" and sharing the lead with Newman on "Adventures in Solitude".
In 2009, the New Pornographers contributed a cover of the Destroyer song "Hey, Snow White" to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night, produced by the Red Hot Organization. The band released their fifth album, Together×Together3 May 2010 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Moves3:532Crash Years4:073Your Hands (Together)3:334Silver Jenny Dollar2:535Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk3:406My Shepherd4:367If You Can’t See My Mirrors2:568Up in the Dark3:109Valkyrie in the Roller Disco3:3210A Bite Out of My Bed3:1311Daughters of Sorrow3:0712We End Up Together5:47, on May 4, 2010, on Matador Records. The album includes collaborations from St. Vincent, Beirut's Zach Condon, and Okkervil River's Will Sheff.
In 2012, the New Pornographers contributed a cover of the song "Think About Me" for the Fleetwood Mac tribute CD called Just Tell Me That You Want Me released by Hear Music. The band's sixth album, Brill Bruisers×Brill Bruisers25 August 2014 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube MusicTracklist · 13 tracks1Brill Bruisers2:562Champions of Red Wine3:413Fantasy Fools3:274War on the East Coast3:585Backstairs4:246Marching Orders4:197Another Drug Deal of the Heart1:288Born With a Sound2:569Wide Eyes2:5610Dancehall Domine3:1911Spidyr2:2112Hi‐Rise3:1613You Tell Me Where4:05, was released on August 26, 2014. The album was their highest charting to date in the United States, peaking at #13 on the Billboard 200.
On January 26, 2017, the New Pornographers announced their seventh album, Whiteout Conditions×Whiteout Conditions7 April 2017 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Play Money4:372Whiteout Conditions4:083High Ticket Attractions3:514This Is the World of the Theater4:275Darling Shade2:576Second Sleep3:147Colosseums3:158We’ve Been Here Before3:529Juke3:2910Clockwise3:1411Avalanche Alley4:11, would be released on April 7. The album was preceded by the single "High Ticket Attractions×High Ticket Attractions24 March 2017 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAHigh Ticket Attractions3:51BSky High4:18". The album is the first to feature drummer Joe Seiders as a full-time member after replacing drummer Kurt Dahle in mid-2014. It is also the first New Pornographers album to not feature Dan Bejar. Newman, however, went on the record to note that Bejar's absence did not mean he had left the band entirely; telling Stereogum:

he [Bejar] was right in the middle of doing a Destroyer record... [w]hich was something we'd narrowly skirted for our whole career. I'm always amazed that we managed to. Sometimes we avoided Destroyer, sometimes Destroyer avoided us, but eventually we hit at the same time. It wasn't anything weird.
On November 29, 2018, A.C. Newman announced via Twitter that he had begun work on a future New Pornographers album. On August 2, 2019, the band announced via Twitter that it would release its new album, In the Morse Code of Brake Lights×In the Morse Code of Brake Lights27 September 2019 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1You’ll Need a New Backseat Driver4:152The Surprise Knock3:123Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile3:444Colossus of Rhodes4:045Higher Beams4:066Dreamlike and on the Rush4:117You Won’t Need Those Where You’re Going2:228Need Some Giants3:399Opening Ceremony3:0010One Kind of Solomon3:5511Leather on the Seat4:33, on September 27, and released its first single from the album, "Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile×Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile2 August 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Falling Down the Stairs of Your Smile3:45". In a press release for the album, Dan Bejar is described as a "former (and possibly future) member" of the band. The new press photos for the band include vocalist/violinist Simi Stone, officially inducting her into the band after being an auxiliary touring member since 2015.
In July 2021, the band announced a North American tour where they would play Mass Romantic and Twin Cinema in full across successive nights, as well as a reissue of Mass Romantic on vinyl. This announcement also confirmed the return of Bejar to the band, as well as the departure of both Thurier and Stone.
On January 9, 2023, A.C. Newman announced via Twitter that the band had moved to a new label, Merge Records, alongside announcing the band's ninth album Continue as a Guest×Continue as a Guest31 March 2023 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Really Really Light3:212Pontius Pilate’s Home Movies3:543Cat and Mouse With the Light3:594Last and Beautiful4:185Continue as a Guest4:246Bottle Episodes4:127Marie and the Undersea4:428Angelcover3:319Firework in the Falling Snow3:2210Wish Automatic Suite5:20, a single from the album, "Really Really Light×Really Really Light9 January 2023 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Really Really Light3:21", and a tour starting in April. The band's press photos confirmed Bejar's second departure from the group – although he has a co-writing credit on "Really Really Light".
On April 17, 2025, drummer Joe Seiders, who had been with the band since 2014, was arrested in California on child pornography charges, leading the band to immediately fire him. In November 2025, the band confirmed that they would be continuing, and would tour North America in 2026. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Newman also confirmed that Seiders' drum parts for the band's tenth studio album had been scrapped. Charley Drayton overdubbed new drum parts onto the album. In the same interview, Newman expressed a desire to re-record the band's three previous albums in order to remove Seiders' drum parts. In January 2026, the band officially announced their new album, The Former Site Of×The Former Site Of27 March 2026 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Great Princess Story4:112Pure Sticker Shock4:103Ballad of the Last Payphone3:504Spooky Action4:535Wish You Could See Me I’m Killing It3:406Votive3:457Wine Remembers the Water1:488Calligraphy3:489Bonus Mai Tais4:3510The Former Site Of6:38, and shared its lead single "Votive×Votive21 January 2026 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Votive3:45" following with the two singles "Pure Sticker Shock×Pure Sticker Shock10 February 2026 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Pure Sticker Shock4:102Votive3:45" released on February 10 and "Spooky Action×Spooky Action2 March 2026 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Spooky Action4:532Pure Sticker Shock4:093Votive3:45" on March 2. It was released on March 27, 2026, via Merge.
The fall leg of the band's 2026 tour was complicated when Calder's, Fancey's and Collins' visa renewals were inexplicably delayed. Newman, a permanent U.S. resident, called on Jillette Johnson and monitor tech Noah Harmon (formerly of The Airborne Toxic Event) to join the band for the fall dates.

Members

Members' other projects in brackets
Current members

Neko Case – lead and backing vocals, percussion (solo artist, Maow, The Corn Sisters, Cub, case/lang/veirs) (1997–present)
John Collins – bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, percussion (the Evaporators, Destroyer, Thorsen) (1997–present)
Carl Newman – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass (solo artist (as A.C. Newman), Superconductor, Zumpano, Thee Crusaders) (1997–present)
Todd Fancey – guitar, backing vocals (solo artist (as Fancey), Limblifter) (2003–present)
Kathryn Calder – keyboards, backing vocals, guitar (solo artist, Immaculate Machine, Frontperson) (2005–present)
Current touring musicians

Noah Harmon - backing vocals, bass, mandolin (2026-present)
Jillette Johnson - backing vocals, keyboards (2026-present)
Josh Wells – drums (Destroyer, Black Mountain) (2026–present)
Former members

Fisher Rose – drums (Destroyer, A.C. Newman) (1997–1999)
Kurt Dahle – drums, percussion, backing vocals (Limblifter, the Age of Electric) (1999–2014)
Simi Stone – violin, backing vocals, percussion (solo artist, Suffrajett) (2019–2021; touring musician 2015–2019)
Blaine Thurier – keyboards, synthesizer (independent filmmaker, Thee Crusaders) (1997–2021)
Dan Bejar – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer (Destroyer, Swan Lake, Hello, Blue Roses) (1997–2017, 2021–2022)
Joe Seiders – drums, backing vocals (Beat Club) (2014–2025)
Former touring musicians

Lindsay "Coco" Hames – backing vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar (The Ettes) (2014)
Nora O'Connor – backing vocals, percussion (The Flat Five) (2021)
Jess Nolan - backing vocals, keyboards (Jenny Lewis) (2026-present)
Adam Schatz – saxophone, synthesizer (Japanese Breakfast) (2023)

Live albums

Live Session (iTunes Exclusive) (2005)
Live! (2006)
LIVE from SoHo (iTunes Exclusive) (2008)

Contributions with non-LP songs

FUBAR: The Album (2002) – "Your Daddy Don't Know"
Matador at Fifteen (2004) – "Graceland"
Dark Was the Night (2009) – "Hey, Snow White"
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe (2011) - "Hey, Snow White"
Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac (2012) – "Think About Me"

Other contributions

Queer as Folk (2000) – "Mass Romantic×Mass Romantic24 October 2000 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Mass Romantic4:042The Fake Headlines2:463The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism3:574Mystery Hours3:115Jackie2:476Letter From an Occupant3:467To Wild Homes3:348The Body Says No3:569Execution Day3:0010Centre for Holy Wars3:0811The Mary Martin Show3:1912Breakin’ the Law3:28"
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) – "Letter from an Occupant×Letter From an Occupant15 April 2002 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Letter From an Occupant3:462The End of Medicine2:343When I Was a Baby2:26"
Men with Brooms (2002) – "Mass Romantic"
CBC Radio 3 Sessions, Vol. 1 (2004) – "The Fake Headlines"
Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story (2004) – "Mass Romantic"
The Office (Season 2, Episode 7: "The Client") (2005) – "Use It×Use It26 July 2005 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Use It3:242Twin Cinema2:573Sing Me Spanish Techno4:14"
Weeds (2005) – "The Laws Have Changed"
Waiting... (2005) – "Electric Version×Electric Version25 April 2003 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1The Electric Version2:542From Blown Speakers2:493The Laws Have Changed3:264The End of Medicine2:385Loose Translation3:006Chump Change4:187All for Swinging You Around3:428The New Face of Zero and One4:119Testament to Youth in Verse3:5810It’s Only Divine Right4:1211Ballad of a Comeback Kid3:5112July Jones4:1813Miss Teen Wordpower3:25"
Gilmore Girls (2004) – "The Laws Have Changed"
Gilmore Girls (2005) – "Twin Cinema×Twin Cinema23 August 2005 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 14 tracks1Twin Cinema2:592The Bones of an Idol2:523Use It3:274The Bleeding Heart Show4:275Jackie, Dressed in Cobras3:066The Jessica Numbers3:077These Are the Fables3:308Sing Me Spanish Techno4:179Falling Through Your Clothes2:5410Broken Breads3:0011Three or Four3:0712Star Bodies4:0713Streets of Fire2:4214Stacked Crooked4:19"
The Hour (Main Title Theme Season 3) (2006) – "Use It"
Chuck (Season 1, Episode 2: "Chuck Versus the Helicopter") (2007) – "Challengers×Challengers7 August 2007 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 20 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11Speed of Luxury3:282Silent Systems4:063Fortune4:204Failsafe (demo)2:315Showstoppers (demo)4:076Myriad Harbour (demo)3:477Go Places (Lite mix)4:288Fugue State3:55Disc 21My Rights Versus Yours4:062Use It3:233Myriad Harbour3:564Challengers3:465All the Old Showstoppers4:116Mass Romantic3:537Failsafe2:378Electric Version2:529Unguided6:2210Adventures in Solitude4:3311Jackie2:4212Go Places4:52"
Heroes (Season 2, Episode 6: "The Line") (2007) – "All for Swinging You Around"
Rock Band (2007) – "Electric Version", "Use It", "All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth" (DLC)
University of Phoenix commercial (2007) – "The Bleeding Heart Show"
Stone of Destiny (2008) – "Mutiny, I Promise You"
NBA playoffs (2008) – "Use It"
Numb3rs (2008) – "Challengers"
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Series 2, Episode 2) (2008) – "Adventures in Solitude"
Management (2009) – "Adventures in Solitude", "All the Old Showstoppers"
Ugly Betty (2010) – "Adventures in Solitude"
The Good Wife (Season 2, Episode 13) (2011) – "Testament to Youth in Verse"
Amazon Kindle commercial – "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk"
T-Mobile commercial (2011) – "Moves×Moves16 April 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracksAMoves3:52BA Drug Deal of the Heart2:49"
Hyundai commercial (Canada) – "Moves"
Go On (opening credits) (2012) – "Moves"
Between (Season 1, Episode 1) (2015) – "Moves"
Speechless (Season 1, Episode 22: "M-A-- MAY-JAY") (2017) – "Dancehall Domine×Dancehall Domine15 December 2014 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Dancehall Domine"
Blindspot (Season 3, Episode 1) – "The Bleeding Heart Show"
Daybreak (Season 1, Episode 9) – "Adventures in Solitude"