Quick Before it Melts

Tuesday 25 January 2011

It all sounds like a dream to me

There’s no denying it, Kaputt is creepy.  Creepy like a greasy haired gigolo who stares at you with eyes that don’t just say, “I want to sleep with you” but “I want to sleep with you in strange, perverted–and in some jurisdictions–illegal ways”.  It’s also incredibly seductive, which is why, against your better judgment, you’re giving those same eyes back before opening song “Chinatown” reaches its sultry sax crescendo.

Dan Bejar freely admitted when speaking with Pitchfork earlier this month that “there are some creepy qualities” to Kaputt, just like there have been on his previous outings as Destroyer, further adding that his “full-on presence might make some kind of jittery or antsy”.  He might as well have been describing me, because I have always found listening to Destroyer records to be a nervous affair.  I’m not a Bejar devotee.  Although I’ve always looked forward to hearing his contributions to New Pornographers records, Destroyer albums have always left me either scratching my head or itching to press stop and put on something less.. creepy.

Kaputt is a different matter altogether.  The 80s soft rock vibe that runs throughout the record still has that unsettling quality to it, because, upon first listen, I wasn’t sure if he was being totally sincere or if he was taking the piss.  And that saxophone!  “Is he for real?” I thought to myself, “Is this really a Destroyer record?”  But by the time my first play-through was over, I understood.  Kaputt, like Bejar’s other work–and the best of any art–comes directly from the artist without a filter, and without consideration about how it will be perceived by its audience. This is Bejar looking to appease a creative itch within himself, to push his songwriting in new directions and find that spark of inspiration again.  It’s less about needing a challenge and more about needing change, so he’s not purposely fucking with his audience.  Still, when you begin moving in a completely different vein from what you’ve previously done, some of your audience may not connect with the music the way they once did.  At the same time, others who found your work difficult in the past may finally have that “a ha” moment.

This time, I connected with Destroyer. This time, I’m in rapturous love with the music.  Bejar is as lyrically obtuse as he’s ever been, and quite frankly, I don’t care.  Whether he’s singing the titles of UK music magazines as he does on the album’s title track or revisiting the “Song for America” motif that repeats through many of the tracks, Bejar’s voice has become an integral instrument in the arrangement.  Probably more so than the much-discussed lead saxophone, Bejar’s voice is really the standout element on Kaputt for me.  I couldn’t put my finger on what it was about his singing until I read the Pitchfork interview and Bejar said that  he wanted the singing “…to be really even and flattened out… I didn’t really know what to make of the words I was singing even though they felt really comfortable to sing.”  Suddenly it made sense.  The antsy, nervous quality on those other records came from his vocal performance.  Remove the emotion, and suddenly it all feels more relaxed, organic and natural.

As I read the reactions other are having to Kaputt, I’m hearing similar stories about not having been big fans before but loving the record now.  I know it may be fleeting, and that by the time Bejar’s next project rolls around, I may not connect in the same way, but that’s the way things are with great artists and gigolos. The experience is meant to be intense, passionate and fleeting; its meant to light a spark of imagination and excitement that has the potential to burst into flame.  And most importantly, its meant to be over before it gets boring. This may explain why I always feel the need to have a cigarette after listening to Kaputt.

Kaputt is released today on Merge Records.

MP3: Destroyer “Chinatown”

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by J. Di Gioia | 2 Comments »

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 25th, 2011 at 8:35 am and is filed under MP3, QBiM SPiNS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.