Review Summary: It may mark the end of Deerhunter's halcyon days, but as is, Halcyon Digest is a beautiful testament to the power of great composition.
Deerhunter’s previous album, the excellent
Microcastle, was a record that highlighted not only frontman Bradford Cox’s songwriting and composition skills but those of the rest of the band as well, with standout track “Nothing Ever Happened to Me” penned by guitarist Lockett Pundt. This time around, the rest of the band displays their now-ubiquitous chops and flexes their collective creative muscles, but their usual shoegaze-y filter of reverb has been (mostly) traded in for more elaborate and interlocking melodies, which allows every note to ring out with clarity even during the densest of climaxes.
There’s a healthy dose of negative space here; not complete silence, but enough to showcase every vocal line and organ chord, parts that were sometimes drowned out in noisier passages on previous outings. Even in more bombastic tracks like “Desire Lines”, every element is clear; nobody gets in anybody else’s way, which allows the ear to focus on the lush harmonies and glowing melodies that characterize these songs. And although the moniker “seasonal music” has been overused to the point of meaningless, this album just
sounds like fall; the shimmer of keyboards and guitars on the gorgeous opener "Earthquake" could be the musical equivalent of falling leaves, the drier drum machine sequences in "Helicopter" sound like November days slowly marching into drearier days, and the lyrics center on the usual Coxian themes of isolation and religion.
In other words, it’s perfect autumnal music, arguably the most vibrant and exciting album of the season. If the band’s 2005 debut
Turn It Up Faggot proved that Deerhunter was one of the most talented bands of the aughts, then
Halcyon Digest shows that they’re not only getting more proficient individually but also developing healthily as a group. Cox & Co. could just stop right now, leaving behind an enviable discography, but it’ll be exciting to see where they go next. Perhaps this album may mark the end of their halcyon days, but as is, it’s a beautiful testament to the power of great composition.
