However, one album I recently came across that has surprised me a great deal is Deerhunter's new album -- Halcyon Digest. I'm not all that familiar with Deerhunter, but I have listened to their previous effort -- Microcastle -- and definitely enjoyed it. But nothing like this new album.
A halcyon is a bird that in ancient legend would nest around the winter solstice to calm the waves of the sea. This is a fitting image for this album, as a lot of the songs' lyrics deal with darkness and sleep, and the album as a whole has a very dark, foggy feel to it. The lyrics also are heavily influenced with themes of aging, and looking at and analyzing life in general. In the outstanding closing song, "He Would Have Laughed," Bradford Cox sings, "I get bored as I get older. Can you help me figure this out?"
The album opens almost sleepily with the song "Earthquake." It's slower and not my favorite track, but I think it's a good opener and sets the tone for the remainder of songs. After "Earthquake," it's pretty much 10 straight very solid songs. Songs that stick out for me are "Revival," "Desire Lines," and the aforementioned "He Would Have Laughed" (especially the last couple minutes of the song).
Pick up this album; you won't be disappointed! (And thanks to fellow Trapper, $G.00 for recommending this album to me.)
It's sort of a yawn, but a very enjoyable one. A lot of the tracks OD points out are solid, but am especially partial to Helicopter. Outside of that I'm sort of indifferent, maybe I need a little more listening time, or maybe I have a pulse. On the sliding scale I'll give it 3 yawns and 2 claps.
ReplyDeleteReally need to listen to a few more times but like where it's going. Very raw, un-produced sound. I do have to say though, "Desire Lines" sound a bit like Arcade Fire.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the main riff in Desire Lines does sound like the AF song "Rebellion (Lies)" for sure.
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