It's a roll of the dice going into a new Destroyer album. The output of Dan Bejar and his band is so varied, so perplexing at times, that each record sort of feels like a new start. That's true of Dan's Boogie, the new one on Merge Records.
Opener "The Same Thing as Nothing at All" is glorious. The instrumentation here is beautiful, alternating between orchestral sweep and a kind of Disintegration-y swell. First single "Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World" seems a bit like Future Bible Heroes, with Bejar's vocals nearly overpowering the piece. If I'm honest, I like the music more than his performance here, and the tune is a good thing taken just a bit too far. Elsewhere, Dan smartly shuts up for the loveliest parts of "The Ignoramus of Love", a nice, concise bit of beauty, while the title song sort of ambles around looking for a hook to hang onto.
Destroyer has offered up a lot of pretty tunes here. But frequently Dan Bejar's instincts seem to be to sing-talk over them. I realize that's sort of the thing here, but I wouldn't be an honest reviewer if I didn't say that a little goes a very long way. Still, there's no denying that a few of these songs have absolutely gorgeous melodies, with smart instrumentation. It's just the vocals that took me out of things at times. So this is a mixed review then, of a record that's strong in spots, concise in others, and excessive in certain aspects.
Dan's Boogie by Destroyer is out now via Merge Records.