DESTROYER - Archer On The Beach (Merge)

Why write a full-length review of a two track 12" single? Well, when you are Destroyer's Dan Bejar who has made a career out of increasingly living up to expectations by confounding expectations, every release is worth more than a simple listen and a mere mention. Beginning his career as a quasi-complex electric/acoustic folk singer Bejar's style and vocals were often compared to early David Bowie. Over time Bejar created his own unique indie chamber-rock that sounded a bit like Bowie fronting Pavement if they were French, and I mean that in the absolute best way, how could I not? While he was busy cultivating Destroyer, he was also acting as the New Pornographers' most essential and interesting member (sorry Neko and A.C.), while creating some truly compelling and inspiring experimental pop music alongside Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug and Frog Eye's Carey Mercer in Swan Lake. The man was steadily becoming one of the most creative voices in indie rock. Last year Bejar cemented his status as such with the "Bay Of Pigs" 12", which, like "Archer On The Beach" also only featured two tracks of experimental music that was increasingly detaching itself from any semblance of a traditionally structured song. "Bay Of Pigs" found Bejar exploring ambient dance music to great effect, so when it was announced that "Archer" would again repeat the two long track formula AND feature electronic experimental artists Tim Hecker and Loscil, I was more than a little excited about the possibilities.

"Archer" is yet another challenging yet satisfying step forward for Bejar. It is chillier than "Bay Of Pigs." If that ep sounded like the sun setting into the ocean off the coast of Miami, "Archer" sounds like a cold wind cutting across the Yorkshire coast in winter. The ep's title track features Hecker playing a subdued piano progression, while even subtler electronic effects crackle and pulse in the background. The track actually sounds a bit more like something Fennesz would compose rather than Hecker, but it works well to complement Bejar's hyper-literate and bizarre lyrics. The track is a proper song with repeated refrains and lyrical patterns (something about an Ice Queen and and Ash King, and an Archer on a Beach...and also the raver, this time on his death bed), but deeply atmospheric and ambient in nature so that it sounds more like one of Hecker's dynamic drone based pieces more than it does anything resembling the New Pornographers. The track calls to mind a couple of touchstones: Fennesz and David Sylvian's collaboration on "Transit" as well as Current 93. Although it is a lot less occult than David Tibet's long running project, it is no less obscure and obtuse and lyrically.

That obtuseness is even greater on "Grief Point," a self-referential meditation on May Day, the current state of music and Bejar's own relation to both, although if anyone can tell me what the meaning is beyond casting a rather dour mood please let me know. Musically, Loscil delivers with a beautifully pulsating and meditative dark drone that features brighter overtones which float in and out of the track, before giving way to bubbling electronics that drive Bejar's poetic ramblings forward. My personal favorite section is during Bejar's narrative when he says "I think the world does not like me grim, it likes me melancholic, but not miserable. English on the Mediterranean, which is - oddly enough - some of the worst people there is." He then promises to eventually explain this record, which may or may not be "picnic baskets filled with blood." It goes without saying that there is a lot to chew on in "Grief Point," which makes what is essentially a spoken word performance over ambient music one of the most compelling and bizarre listens this year. Bizarre, not only because of Bejar's recitation, but because like a good pop song, you actually want to listen to this repeatedly. By all rational standards you shouldn't desire to hear this kind of thing over and over again, but Loscil's riveting electronics and Bejar's rich diatribe is entirely interesting and not the least bit pretentious.

Bejar is set to release "Kaputt," Destroyer's next full length early next year. Given the scope and daring of "Bay Of Pigs" and "Archer" I can only imagine that it is going to be a record unlike any other. With "Archer" Bejar has staked his claim as one of the truly serious and creative musicians working today. There are very few pop/rock artists who can navigate the experimental waters this deftly and produce a work so enjoyable both casually and as a deep listening experience. Bejar is one of those precious few. Hopefully "Bay of Pigs" and "Archer" is only a prelude for what is to come.