Doing this review made me realize something I was not aware of. Destroyer, the brainchild of Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Bejar, has been going strong for almost 30 years now. The reason I say this is because each time a new Destroyer album drops, it feels like Dan is still finding ways to push forward and still evolve the band, even this late in their career. I also want to clear up the fact that even though this is a rock album by a band named Destroyer, this is not a huge, heavy riff-fest that will give you a headache three songs in. While Bejar has said he chose the name because “we’re tearing sh*t apart in our own way,” this album is more in the lane of a band like LCD Soundsystem or Jungle where a lot more focus is placed on the ambiance and the production rather than just turning a guitar up to 11 and going from there.
Regardless, Destroyer’s 13th album sees Bejar continuing in a more synth and dance direction and if he wants to continue in this direction, I will not be upset. Only one song on this album doesn’t feature a pulsing groove or a memorable synth line and it’s the aptly titled The Last Song. It’s the only song with Bejar in his singer-songwriter roots. The lyrics almost read like a poem while an electric guitar strums away in the background.
Outside of the final song, however, this album’s energy consistently remains high and it’s a ton of fun to listen to. The lead single Tintoretto, It’s for You is an absolute banger that just keeps building up to this fantastic synth explosion. Bejar’s lyrics throughout the second verse are great as well, he sings:
I pulled up stakes, I went out west
Out past the insane desert
Out past the useless farm
And the parking lot where the palm trees stoop
To kiss the bishop’s ring, with the alleycats singing
And the hidden buzzer that says “ocеan”
Instead of the sound of your phone ringing
And ringing and ringing
The synth lead and the effects on top of the drums really make the song stand out and give it a really weird but also fantastic feeling. The song Suffer has a similar buildup and release with a drum fill leading into a guitar riff and synths flying in every direction.
I also have to point out this album’s opening song, It’s In Your Heart Now, before I forget. It’s a really pretty and almost hypnotizing song and while the lyrics don’t really say much, they don’t need to either. The song also builds really nicely. It starts with layers of synths, a bassline, and an electronic drum beat before some guitars and live drums get added into the mix. The synths just get prettier and prettier as the song continues and it’s an incredible way to open the album up.
The hits keep on coming even later into the album. I love the way Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread kicks off with organized chaos of speedy drum fills and cute piano chords before it transitions into a fantastic dance beat. Instrumentally it almost feels like something that could’ve landed on the last Jessie Ware album, What’s Your Pleasure? I love the synth line that shows up in the last half of the song while Bejar repeats the album’s title and the song fades out.
The following song It Takes a Thief is equally as fun even though stylistically it’s pretty different from Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread. While It Takes a Thief is the shortest song on this album, it manages to pack one of the biggest punches and might even be the best song on here. There are all these random samples and percussive/instrumental bits thrown into the song that almost makes it tough to keep up with it. There’s vocoder vocals, maracas, horns, wood blocks, there’s just so much going on but it all somehow works. And on top of that, Bejar’s lyrics are still super fun as he sings about things not going his way. How he tries to go outside but first a bike, then an avalanche, come out of nowhere on their way to nowhere. I also love the line where he says that he likes to go “where the wind goes, not on sh*tty vacations.”
I really, truly enjoyed this album. I think Bejar is a smart man who knows how to take risks but not risk so much that he loses fans. But honestly, if you’re almost 30 years into your career, why not just try to have fun with what you do. If you want to make a dance album with rock energy, there’s no point in not going for it. While I do wish there could’ve been another slower song or two on this album to let Bejar flex his pen game, I think the grooviness and the dance beats all over this album pick up that slack for me.
Key Tracks: It’s In Your Heart Now, Suffer, June, Tintoretto It’s for You, Eat the Wine Drink the Bread, It Takes a Theif, The Last Song
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