Album Review: Destroyer - "Dan's Boogie"

Dan's Boogie, Dan Bejar's fourteenth studio album under the Destroyer name, is among some of his brightest, hookiest, and most accessible. It has a delightful consistency in quality that you will typically find in much of his best work.

Merge - 2025

Dan Bejar is one of indie rock's most interesting and poignant visionaries and songwriters, ever since his start in the 90's in acts like The New Pornographers. Most notably is his band Destroyer which has changed drastically over the years, from introspective art rock (Destroyer's Rubies) to lounge jazz (Poison Season) to indie pop (Kaputt). 2011's Kaputt was (and probably will be) the height of his career as an artist and since then he's consistently shot out solid album after album. His most recent output, 2022's Labyrinthitis, features some of his best work yet and is some of his most accessible. There's often wry humor in his lyrics, often spitting out dryly sung poetry instead of your typical pop songwriting. His dry, often monotoned voice isn't for everyone necessarily (heck it wasn't even for me at first). But once you get to really let his voice envelop and the instrumentation wrapping around his lyricism takes hold, you're locked in.

Dan's Boogie, Bejar's fourteenth studio album under the Destroyer name, is among some of his brightest, hookiest, and most accessible. Next to Labyrinthitis, Dan's Boogie has a similar aesthetic where art pop, synth pop, indie rock and jazz embellishments seem to thrive and bloom. It also features some of the most entertaining lyrics he's put out, making it even more compelling to hear. "Nothing Is the Same at All" is quite the grand opening if you could ever have one. Horns blaring, trippy pianos fluttering about, and an epic progression. It's not surprising to hear Bejar singing lines like "somehow hallucinating in this tub of shit," which you can imagine as the backdrop to the current state of thew world at large. "Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World" is some of Bejar's dreamiest pop since Kaputt. The harmonies, synths, and fluttering highs sound truly effortlessly infectious. I could listen to those melodies on loop, to be honest. "The Ignoramus of Love" is a gentle piano ballad with some lovely twangy steel guitar and its guitar matching with some eerie backing vocals and stomping claps sounds like falling down an endless cavernous hole. The title track does sound like some of the gorgeous, jazzy rock that could've been on previous records like Poison Season. Its piano playing is graceful, almost sounding like something from The Sims, and that's a high compliment. He even repeats a line from "My Mystery," a song recorded during the Poison Season sessions: "you're lost in the lighthouse / you're lost at sea / that's my mystery."

"Bologna," featuring vocals from Fiver, is arguably the album's grooviest and catchy song here. The tropical jazz and pop laid out is very lovely to hear, even if it would've been a headscratcher on paper. "I Materialize" is a dreamy interlude that sounds pretty but could've definitely be cut out, but of course the line "don't believe me / just ask song 63, line 275" is pretty iconic. "Sun Meet Snow" starts out as a light, delicate and gentle song that has the chirpy, joyful quality that I didn't expect from Bejar. Its frolicking horns, crashing percussion, and glitchy electronics in the back half make it a very invigorating highlight. "Cataract Time" is a marvelous eight minute long excursion that has moody yet ethereal keys and grooves that are as soothing as a glass of warm milk. It could've been a very pretty highlight from the Kaputt era with its jazzy saxophone solos. "Travel Light" closes the album with a simple and sturdy piano ballad that seems to be his bread and butter at this point. The album's flow, production, presentation, and the songs themselves make Dan's Boogie a strong contender for one of his best albums since Kaputt. It has a delightful consistency in quality that you will typically find in much of Bejar's best work. In 2025, you should be here for it if you're a Destroyer fan and if you're not, well, get in line. Or don't. If Bejar's dry humor and endless poetic diatribes are anything to note, he probably won't care either way, and that's exactly what the fans want.

My Rating: 8 / 10

Favorite Songs: "Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World," "Nothing Is the Same at All," "Bologna," "Cataract Time," "Sun Meets Snow"