 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
If ever there were a Renaissance man within the music scene, surely it would be Dan Bejar. For over ten years Bejar has been active in the indie-music community, contributing to at least one album per year from various projects. To fans of the New Pornographers, Danny (as liner notes are likely to call him) is known as the adversary of Carl Newman and Neko Case, who puts magic into the band. For those who listen to Swan Lake, Bejar is that other guy who isn't Spencer Krug, who occasionally sings. Some may even know Bejar for his work backing his girlfriend in the new group Hello, Blue Roses. But to his biggest fans (most likely the ones who actually know his name) Bejar is the genius behind Destroyer, a solo project formed long ago in 1995. Despite being formed later, the New Pornographers always outshined Destroyer until the surprise success of 2001's Streethawk: A Seduction, which gained Bejar's solo efforts a cult following of sorts. Thus, when the time came for Destroyer's tenth album, Trouble in Dreams, it was met with much anticipation and high expectations, which Bejar was sure not to let down. When composing songs for Destroyer, Bejar has always taken a more simplistic approach with instrumentation. In the case of 2006's Destroyer's Rubies, simplistic compositions worked against the overall feel of the album and caused it to be something of monotony. For Trouble in Dreams, Bejar has regained control over simplistic instrumentation and used it to his advantage to create a very whimsical and captivating sound. Most songs contain only acoustic guitar, with the occasional electric to back it up, drums to express intensity, and either a piano or organ to give the music a little spark. In "The State," Bejar starts off with a quirky guitar part followed by a swift drum roll to create an almost off-balanced feel, as though Bejar doesn't know which direction he'll go, like he's stumbling about. As he starts to sing, the music dies down then comes back in full force with pounding drums and a spinning organ reminiscent of The Doors. It sounds like complete madness but in a very controlled way so that it's fun. Many of the songs on Trouble in Dreams follow this structural format of a build up, lull, and then complete chaos, but Bejar always manages to find a new creative way to pull this off so it's hardly noticeable that he follows the same structure. It takes a great deal of skill to pull off something like that and not bore the listener, which Bejar seems to be well-endowed with. With such amazing musical structure and compositions one may think it's the only reason to listen to Trouble in Dreams, but actually, the music doesn't even come close to Dan Bejar's vocal abilities. Bejar has been gifted with a singing voice that is slightly effeminate. For those who have never heard Bejar sing before it may sound foolish, perhaps hilarious, but without this unique singing voice the songs would just be ordinary. When Bejar sings he puts a lot of emphasis into the annunciation of each word he sings. Sometimes he draws out his lyrics to almost a slur, but it's all to convey emotion within the song. "Blue Flower/Blue Flame" starts out with an almost sighed "Ok fine even the sky looks like wine?" --which gives off this great impression that Bejar is completely frustrated and just giving in to any old suggestion; he just doesn't care. There's a dramatic quality to his voice that is hardly ever heard in music. A lot of musicians sing their lyrics, but it's obvious (to this reviewer, anyway) that they don't feel them; Bejar feels his lyrics. In other instances, Bejar gives way to complete panic while singing "Beware the company you reside in" over and over again in "My Favorite Year." He delivers this line with a percussive accent on each word to convey panic, rather than frantically shouting the lyric as some other singers might. At this point lyrics hardly even matter because they are complete nonsense, as is Bejar's usual style. Some have referred to his lyrics as poetic based on the fact that they seemingly have no meaning, or that one would have to put a lot of thought into the lyrics in order to gain meaning from them. For the most part they just add to the whimsical feel of the entire album. When Bejar sings "What devilry the source of this screaming/ You and your dress forgave the birds of Plaza Trinidad" in "Plaza Trinidad", it comes off as a bit confusing, but it's such an absurdly great line and works so well with the music and Bejar's voice that it no longer matters that he's rambling on like a derelict. The lyrics on Trouble in Dreams serve as a vessel to showcase Bejar's unique voice, as if he just picks out words that he loves to hear himself sing and puts them all together in a song. It works extremely with the entire majesty of the album. With these incoherent lyrics, his fantastical voice, and flawless music structure, Bejar has managed to make Trouble in Dreams one of Destroyer's finest albums to date.
RATING: 9/10
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