Fading Frontier
Retreating from the garage snarl of 2013’s Monomania to the gauzy, melodic textures of 2010’s *Halcyon Digest*, Deerhunter have made their warmest record yet. The psychedelic swoops of “Breaker”, synth pulse of “Ad Astra” and lysergic funk of “Snakeskin” all expertly find the biting point between invention and accessibility. The gorgeous sonics are regularly just a salve for caustic lyrics though, and Bradford Cox’s outsider spirit rages with paranoia and self-laceration throughout.
After the grotty, pissed-off Monomania and Bradford Cox's catastrophic car accident comes Deerhunter's most content, warm and plainspoken work to date. While the band's written many indelible songs, Fading Frontier may have their first that could conceivably blend into real-deal classic rock radio.
In 2013, Atlanta-based indie-rock act Deerhunter released its sixth studio album, Monomania, a work that left many scratching their heads. In ways both sonic and thematic, it was a significant and ragged left turn away from the shimmering, frizzy sounds that marked the group’s masterful mid-career releases Microcastle…
Bradford Cox and co. mark the end of an era with their greatest leap forward yet, towards a new sound.
You could be the kind of person who complains about Bradford Cox making a comfortable-sounding record, but ask why you'd…
‘Fading Frontier’ draws a new line in the sand, and it could be the beginning of a more direct and big-thinking Deerhunter.
At one point on Fading Frontier, Bradford Cox sings "Take your handicaps/Channel them and feed them back/Until they become your strengths."
Two tracks into Faded Frontier and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox makes his intentions clear. 'I'm out of range,' he sighs, wallowing in his desire for solitude.
Deerhunter return with less angst and urgency on new album, Fading Frontier, yet their music stays immediate and their lyrics visceral. Ther...
'It refuses to cower behind a barrier of ambiguity - and benefits ultimately for that fact'As far as Deerhunter have come, they have yet to cement themselves as a band that have definitive ‘phases’.
The horrific accident that nearly killed Bradford Cox has clearly changed his outlook, and by extension, the music of Deerhunter. Gone is the gnashing of teeth and the back of the throat growl. Cox's vocals often sounded as though they were squeezing out
American quartet Deerhunter return to deliver, surprisingly, their seventh slice of ambient indie to the masses. Somehow it's been an entire decade
Deerhunter’s follow-up to Monomania is more unpredictable than first impressions suggest
It’s as professional and polished an album as this band has produced, running the risk of being labeled safe or predictable.
Review of 'Fading Frontier' by Deerhunter. The band's forthcoming release comes out on October 16th via 4AD. The lead single "Snakeskin" is now streaming.
The Deerhunter mastermind’s latest musical whims take the band into more straightforward pop territory – but there’s still a deep disquiet to it all
Deerhunter - Fading Frontier review: Quite possibly Deerhunter's most accessible album to date.