ken

Album review

When he doesn’t work with the New Pornographers, Dan Bejar plays Destroyer. At more than 45 years old, the Canadian now seems to focus more on this name that he’s been controlling since 1995. A dozen albums later, he continues to confuse the issue. He, who’s able to create baroque pop as well as quirky jazz, plunges the songs from Ken into viscerally synthetic waters. Bejar has always shouted about his passion for The Cure, and it’s hard not to think here of some sounds from Robert Smith’s band, of which he fortunately doesn’t have the voice. His voice, strange and atypical (hard not to think of Robyn Hitchcock or even of Ian Hunter during the Mott The Hoople era), is what make all the difference in this Destroyer project. It’s the perfect counterpoint to the musical world sculpted by the vintage synths and keyboards that he drives with taste. Produced by Josh Wells from Black Mountain, this twelfth album from Destroyer exudes some kind of unprecedented melodic evanescence. This is a feeling of well-being that Destroyer’s previous opuses didn’t offer with such generosity. © CM/Qobuz