The quality of Halcyon Digest is still staggeringly high
You can argue that the new Deerhunter album doesn’t have the punch of Microcastle or the density of Florescent Grey, or even the searing intimacy of the Atlas Sound albums, but the quality of Halcyon Digest is still staggeringly high. There’s no experimental companion album this time around, but this volume favours quality over quantity.
In some ways (definitely in terms of audience share), Microcastle was the four-piece’s breakthrough album and they repeat a few choice tricks that made that album such a classic. There’s a dreamy, wafting intro that cuts into instantly accessible pop songs. Then there’s a purposeful slump with a protracted ballad until – bam! – there’s a rapid-fire burst of frenetic belters to blow off the mid-album cobwebs.
Leading the pack is this album’s Nothing Ever Happened – Desire Lines. Okay, it’s not the most original thing you’ll hear – the moody intro bounces in like Arcade Fire’s Rebellion (Lies) before morphing into an outro reminiscent of The Pixies’ Hey – but it’s impossible to resist its charms. Guitarist Lockett Pundt is lead vocalist on Desire Lines (and crops later to spearhead Fountain Stairs) and this new move helps to break up the fractured, sometimes claustrophobic vision of Bradford Cox, who continues to engage with his sinister vision. While short shots of fuzzy pop like Memory Boy and Don’t Cry work a treat, the more intimate side of Cox makes for the more lasting moments, like the delicate, haunting Helicopter, the glacial opener Earthquake and a searing tribute to Jay Reatard in He Would Have Laughed.
While it’s hard to argue with the consistency of Cox’s music, he does seem to be settling into a familiar groove. It would be nice to have an element of surprise creep back into the music of Deerhunter in the near future, but until then, this’ll do just nicely