Having just released their seventh studio album, perhaps sibling indie-rock duo Tegan and Sara (now at age 32) have used up all their signature angst. The twin sisters’ new album, Heartthrob, demonstrates a distinct stylistic break from their last release in 2009, Sainthood, whose brooding folk guitar riffs and aggressive rock drumming generated a cult following. Heartthrob’s producer, Greg Kurstin, has instead opted for relentless disco drums and synths, injecting some bubblegum-pop into Tegan and Sara’s sound like he did for Kelly Clarkson and P!nk.

The first track on the album, “Closer,” sounds something like an amalgamation of Alphaville, Passion Pit, and the Ting Tings. The trendy pop instrumentation adds energy—it’s catchy. But by the album’s fourth track, the electronica still hasn’t stopped, and listening to Heartthrob starts to feel like being in a hipster Parisian discothèque. Moodier tracks like “Now I’m All Messed Up” offer lyrics and offbeat rhythms reminiscent of the band’s earlier material, but when laid over disco beats, they start sounding like the slow songs at an ‘80s-themed high school dance.

Tegan and Sara partially redeem this syrupy turn with evocative melodies like those in “Drove Me Wild” and especially “I Was a Fool,” whose harmonization is atypical of current pop. But the lack of real variation and lyricism throughout renders Heartthrob anything but subtle—and with an 18-year career built on an intimate, indie sound, Tegan and Sara are risking being branded as sellouts.