Destroyer, Trouble in Dreams

reviewed by dave heaton

"Okay fine, even the sky looks like wine," Dan Bejar sings to start the new, eighth Destroyer album Trouble in Dreams. And Destroyer does often sound like the ramblings of a drunk bohemian, one with Dylan and Bowie joneses…it often sounds like a more glam-blues version of Dylan's most mystical moments, or a discography of surreal, brilliant riffs on "Visions of Johanna". Each pop/rock song is also a puzzle, but not one with an answer. I love the line further on in "Blue Flower/Blue Flame", that same opening song, that goes like this: "I'll tell you what I mean by that / maybe not in seconds flat / maybe not today."

Or maybe not ever, but that's part of the charm. From his mouth comes a sea of words that mystify, obliquely refer back to themselves, and carry weight while also seeming like frothy nonsense. The album is filled with lines that are quotable not for meaning but how they feel. To wit, the chorus to "Rivers": "You always had a problem flowing down rivers". Or its opening: "See the sun crawling over the sky / keep an eye on the surf and the sea and the sand / don't you know every night is a stand-off with the fucking horizon?"

Bejar could write a dynamite poetry book, but this is music, and the charm of Destroyer is also about his singing, raggedy yet curious, and curiously pleasant. And the music, gliding and crunching its way around melodies. There's a fulcrum at the center via the lengthy "Shooting Rockets (From the Desk of Night's Ape)", a short story of a song that – surprise! – makes little sense but is fascinating. And making little sense seems a central part of what it's replicating: "We live in darkness…the light is a dream".

The last album, Destroyer's Rubies , felt romantic and luxurious -- Trouble in Dreams feels romantic too, but sitting out in the open air somewhere, where guitars can rise upwards. Then again, the wine-drinker at the bar on the album cover seems appropriate too, like this whole endeavor is like a strange night next to a mysterious sage/madman who just won't stop talking. You don't understand anything he means, but his words sound so good that you hope he never stops…

{www.mergerecords.com}