This Thursday, the latest New Pornographers tour, with Waxahatchee as the opener, will be stopping by the Fox. The Pornographers are touring in support of their newest album, Whiteout Conditions, which is heavy on synthesizer and contagiously melodic. Helmed by A.C. Newman, they’ve always been an exuberant and effusive band. Their new album has lost none of the joyousness that’s been a hallmark of their sound since Mass Romantic, the debut album that gave us formidable pop tunes like “Letter From An Occupant” and “The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism”. Whiteout Conditions is a bit of a stylistic evolution that makes heavy use of synthesizers, adding a new twist to their guitar-driven sound. Fortunately for listeners, the elements that make them a great band — A.C. Newman’s idiosyncratic vocals, shared with Neko Case and Dan Bejar, driving rhythms, pop hooks, and fist-pumping choruses — are all present in abundance. Whiteout Conditions, their seventh in a stream of well-received albums, is out on the Pornographers’ own label, Collected Works Records.

The enormously talented Katie Crutchfield, meanwhile, has taken Waxahatchee from lo-fi acoustic bedroom project to a powerhouse backing band for her confessional and deeply personal songwriting. Since the release of Crutchfield’s venerated American Weekend, Waxahatchee’s esteem has grown immensely, and they’re now signed to Merge Records. Follow-up albums Cerulean Salt and 2016’s Ivy Tripp saw Crutchfield adding members to a fluctuating lineup, foregoing lo-fi recording in favor of studio luster, and embracing an electric full-band sound, to great effect. Now that she’s on the road with The New Pornographers, Crutchfield and her band are sure to make some new converts to their affecting brand of charmingly simple, plaintive love songs and nostalgia-tinged rumination.

Come out for these two groups of brilliant artists and spend a Thursday night in poignant reflection and joyful celebration.

The New Pornographers, Waxahatchee
The Fox Theater
April 13, 2017
8pm $38