LABYRINTHITIS
For all the different forms his music has assumed over the years—glam, chamber-folk, yacht rock, dream-pop—you can readily identify any Destroyer song the instant that Dan Bejar opens his mouth to dispense his cryptic yet deliciously dramatic narratives. And no record in his long, winding career puts that theory to the test as gleefully as *LABYRINTHITIS*, an album that’s essentially the musical manifestation of his famously frizzy, mad-scientist hairdo: It’s bursting with wild sonic ideas that shoot off in every direction, yet it’s always unmistakably him. After luring us in with the warm, shoegazey synth drones and subaquatic bass throb of “It’s in Your Heart Now,” *LABYRINTHITIS* traps us in its maniacal maze and dares us to find a way out: “June” deviously blurs the line between polyrhythmic post-punk and ’80s adult-contemporary pop before free-falling into a bizarre, voice-modulated spoken-word breakdown; “Tintoretto, It’s for You” is part louche cabaret strut, part festival-EDM meltdown. But *LABYRINTHITIS*’s boldness of vision also yields rousing moments of release (“Suffer,” “It Takes a Thief”) that infuse the pop elegance of 2011’s *Kaputt* with a little extra *kapow*. The instrumental title track provides a welcome mid-album reprieve in which the band crafts a Boards of Canada-worthy pastorale, complete with the comforting sounds of chattering children.
Dan Bejar’s marvelously inscrutable songwriting reaches beyond meaning. On his most live-sounding record in years, he finds clarity when language recedes and the music takes over.
Destroyer's 'Labyrinthitis' is an apt insomniac's companion for lonely dancers in make-believe discos.
Ah, Destroyer. Back for another round in the trenches and not a moment too soon.
(Bella Union)<br>The Canadian rockers weave dreamy electronica through an album that buries frequent moments of brilliance beneath a bewildering collage of ideas
“Ruff ruff says the beetle to the terrier” – welcome to the new medieval bard album from Destroyer from Dan Bejar
If there’s a formula to figuring Destroyer's 'Labyrinthitis' out, it lies within Dan Bejar’s enigmatic mind. Read our review.
On 'LABYRINTHITIS', indie rock's Destroyer address North American anxiousness while successfully tackling styles hitherto untouched by the project.
LABYRINTHITIS by Destroyer Album review by Mimi Kenny. The Vancouver group forthcoming release drops on March 25, 2022 via Merge Records