Over the last two weeks or so, I have been more or less obsessed with Destroyer’s (aka Dan Bejar of The New Pornographers) latest album Trouble In Dreams. The album is my first experience with any of Bejar’s solo work and I regret not looking into him sooner, as the album is a truly fantastic blend of indie pop and singer-songwriter sensibilities. The opener “Blue Flower/Blue Flame†is an intimate acoustic track that highlights Bejar’s wispy vocals, smart lyrics and terrific compositional skills, as a high guitar lead melodic dances along with Bejar’s croons of “blue flower, blue flame, a woman by another name is not a woman.†Bejar’s voice has the slightest hint of a Jeff Magnum or Colin Meloy accent but his lyrical ability truly shines, especially on Trouble In Dreams. Tracks like “My Favourite Year†or “Dark Leaves Form A Thread†switch from quiet vocal and guitar interplay to full band indie pop antics like that of Sunset Rubdown. I love the album so much, I think it’s my top early contender for best album of 2008, so check it out.
mp3: “Blue Flower / Blue Flame”
mp3: “Dark Leaves Form A Thread”
mp3: “Introducing Angels”