Destroyer’s 2011 album Kaputt is one of my favorites of the decade (it was 2011’s best), though I certainly wouldn’t anticipate a songwriter like Dan Bejar – always of a creatively capricious nature – to attempt to replicate that sound again. Still, I was pleased to see some of Kaputt’s elements carry over into Poison Season, which paints a similar sorta nighttime melancholy in instrumental choices (especially with the entries of orchestra and brass) and homage-laden philosophy, even if the overall experience is less cohesive than the masterful Kaputt. Still,
Poison Season is a solid album from a songwriter always worth checking out. Several tracks provide an eclectic glimpse; Springsteen-esque rocker “Dream Lover” is fun even if it lacks the depth Bejar listeners are familiar with, but there’s plenty of depth elsewhere – from masterful orchestral builder “Forces From Above”, which hearkens to Kaputt influence Bryan Ferry in the string-laden nonchalance, to the sweeping cinematic lushness of “Bangkok”. There’s always at least one of atmospheric beauty or rampant infectious hooks in a Dan Bejar track, often both, and the efforts here are no exception.
The Fat Angel Sings 