I always feel like I don't pay enough attention to Destoyer. Like Lambchop, the critically-acclaimed act creates music that's richly rewarding, and requires patience at times. The new one from Destoyer, LABYRINTHITIS, out tomorrow via Bella Union and Merge (depending on where you are), is a record full of audio pleasures, even if at times it feels over-thought and forced in its execution.
Opener "It's in Your Heart Now" is a real highlight here, Dan Bejar using a simple melodic figure to create the kind of power we'd hear in a John Adams piece, even as the lyrics nearly approach a Half Japanese-like sense of the grace of the everyday. Elsewhere, "All My Pretty Dresses" is direct and catchy, while "Suffer" recalls New Order a bit. These are the best tracks here, where Bejar doesn't get lost in his own ambition, and the purity of the execution seems to match up nicely with the musical intentions.
Still, for those successes, LABYRINTHITIS has a few missteps. "Tintoretto, It's for You" is weirdly annoying, like a number from a failed Broadway show, while "It Takes a Thief" is busy and chirpy, the keyboards overwhelming the ideas quickly. "The Last Song" ends the album on a Lou Reed-ish note, and one wishes more of this record had had this style. Dan Bejar is talented, no doubt, but there's just something oddly offputting about some of this, even as other tracks here are positively sublime. It's a jarring mix at times, but thankfully the album's first half rewards a listener thoroughly.
LABYRINTHITIS is out tomorrow via Bella Union and Merge.
[Photo: Nicolas Bragg]