PRINTMusic review: Trouble in Dreams
Courtesy of Merge Records
March 20, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Dan Bejar has big shoes to fill after his 2006 album Destroyer’s Rubies, which was Destroyer’s best work to date — and the Vancouver native has decided to preserve many of the same elements that made the last album so provocative with this month’s release of Trouble in Dreams.
Bejar, also of The New Pornographers, under the nom du plume Destroyer, puts together an album that combines classic acoustic guitar laced with powerful electric backup riffs and a wide variety of piano styles. Bejar is not, however, a champion of his vocals; his nasally, unconventional voice rarely strays from about a five-note range.
Bejar’s innovative and surreal lyrics are not without meaning but rather open to interpretation. In “Shooting Rockets,” the album’s dark, eight-minute power track, Bejar sings “We live in darkness / The light is a dream, you see.”
After a weak opener, Bejar delivers his most conventional track, “Dark Leaves Form a Thread,” which begins with guitar strumming indistinguishable from most acoustic artists. Of course, this is quickly covered up with a barrage of overpowering drums and electric riffs. A similar construction can be seen on tracks such as “State.”
Destroyer loyals will be satisfied to hear “Foam Hands,” the ugly duckling of the album — different, yes, but quite appealing anyway with background piano that would not be out of place at an Easter Sunday Mass.
Among the album’s 12 tracks, listeners will find quite a range. “Libby’s First Sunrise” and “Introducing Angels” have simply constructed acoustic guitar. Meanwhile Ted Bois’ keyboard skills contribute to the album’s range by both keeping things simple and clean with piano tones in tracks such as “Rivers” and shooting for fluidity with more progressive, electronic sounds as in “Leopard of Honor.”
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