RockFeedback

Destroyer

04.04.11

BIOGRAPHY

To celebrate the announcement that their latest album Kaputt is finally getting a UK, release, we’ve given Destroyer the enviable honour of being our Artist of the Week (sorry to those expecting an article on the Polish thrash metal band of the same name - maybe next week).

Started in mid-90s Vancouver in the bedroom of main man Dan Bejar, Destroyer is widely considered more of a solo project than a band, despite the majority of their albums featuring significant contributions from a rotating but recurring cast of musicians. So far his career has spanned nine studio albums and several EPs, each of which has divided opinion in such a way as to elevate him to the status of ‘cult hero’.

His self-recorded debut album, We’ll Build Them a Golden Bridge, was a distinctly lo-fi affair, but laid the foundations for the poetic electro-folk that would be fleshed out in the studio for follow-up album City of Daughters. Thief, his third LP, was the first to gain him widespread critical success, with the album being seen as a scathing attack on the music industry according to most interpretations.

It was around this time that Bejar started his contributions to Canadian indie band The New Pornographers, along with long-time collaborator and producer John Collins. The full extent of Bejar’s contribution to the band has never been fully revealed, and live performances with all New Pornos (who also feature AC Newman and Neko Case) band are rare, but the structures of The New Pornographers’ straight-forward pop songs are distinctly different from Destroyer’s more complex structures, albeit sharing similar easy on the ear melodies.

Bejar is also a member of two other bands, Hello, Blue Roses and Swan Lake, whose two albums have matched the critical acclaim he has already received for Destroyer. For the release of seventh album Destroyer’s Rubies in 2006, Bejar announced that he had settled on a definitive line up for the band, with the added stability leading to some of the most accomplished work the band has put out, culminating in this year’s superb career-highlight Kaputt (soon to be physically released in the UK on new label Dead Oceans).

Destroyer has grown and expanded with each release, constantly challenging what the listener expects of the band, and expanding the limits which the band operates in. This has never been more apparent than on Kaputt, where the band allows itself to branch out in completely new directions. Much like last year’s Relayted by Gayngs, Kaputt echoes an era mostly forgotten by the majority of modern music, and immerses you in an experience that is unlike anything currently available. The first impression the listener may get from all the soft bass and smooth sax lines might be quite a cheesy one, but once the initial shock has worn off there’s a collection of great songs showcasing Bejar’s fantastic song craft and wit underneath. Listening to the likes of ‘Suicide Demo for Kara Walker’ and ‘Kaputt’ it feels as though he has finally found his niche, after some awkward yet always intriguing arrangements on previous albums.

When revisiting Destroyer’s early work it’s startling to compare where his music began and where it has arrived now, from sketchy lo-fi folk to pristinely produced soft funk. It is an evolution that has happened slowly, taking in many high points along the way, but ultimately refining the sound into something that is as unique in today’s music industry as the band itself is.

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