While he once accompanied these gestures with rambly, glammy folk-rock, Bejar has spent the past decade mining the milder tones of sophisti-pop, soft rock, and adult contemporary: genres so removed from youthful abandon that even speaking their names has a somewhat sobering effect. A chilling enough message on its own, but then he continues: “The dead twist and shout/In an invisible world/The Grand Ole Opry of Death is breathless.... Breathless.” Now, we’re back in his domain—an unlikely chorus, a couple puns—as he sweeps us from the world we know toward some strange afterlife, where the audience is as bewildered as us and the artist on stage has never sounded more at home. The Bad: The economy on this record is a double-edged sword. It's well-known that Destroyer can get easily repetitive and due to Bejar's methodology in writing songs the lyrics become non-sensical and hermetic, but even with that in mind it's easy to find some moments full of epic art pop, jazz pop and even some synthpop, tracks like "Cue Synthesizer" and the interlude "Have We Met" can bring some of the best instrumental moments in the album, which I feel like Destroyer is … Although Bejar changed his approach in writing for Have We Met, the record nevertheless continues, for the most part, in the vein of the sophisti-pop melodies and arrangements of Kaputt and ken. Destroyer's Dan Bejar has always been a bit of a cipher, both in his lyrics and music, and more so in terms of his mysterious, awkward personality. Have We Met manages to meet somewhere between those disparate Y2K reference points and Destroyer's own area of expertise, gliding deftly into territory that marries the old strident Destroyer with the new, aged crooning one of late. NOW Magazine. Summary. This impression stems from his lack of conformity to the “rock star” identity. Have We Met is as musically varied and engaging as Destroyer’s music has ever been, and Bejar challenges himself to approach new sonic textures: the synth refrain on “It Just Doesn’t Happen” leans into pop territory, sounding like something off Sonic: The Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis (not a bad thing), and the funk groove on “Cue Synthesizer” sounds like nothing Bejar’s done before. There are moments on this album that feel positively apocalyptic. Have We Met, Destroyer’s 13th studio album, sounds like a companion piece to 2011’s Kaputt, both in style and in substance. And yet, he can still aim for the heart. Danny Eccleston of Mojo gave the album a positive review, characterizing it as "a richly inventive 21st century version of mid-'80s UK art pop." Since he first emerged in the mid-’90s, Bejar has reflected the world in these abstract and broken-sounding ways: “Sing the least poetic thing you can think of,” he recently said of his preferred method of songwriting, “and try to make it sound beautiful.” As cerebral as Bejar’s work can be, the state of mind with which his music is most commonly associated is drunkenness: the predilection to spew nonsense, the bravado in convincing the room you’re fine, even as you spill wine all over yourself. However, as I’ve mentioned before, certain moments mark definitive steps forward musically. REVIEW: Destroyer – ‘Have We Met’ (Dead Oceans) by George McKenna; February 4, 2020; in New Album Releases, Reviews; 0 ; 0; 6/10. It’s music that feels connected to middle age, and Bejar has navigated his 40s using its muted horns and lush synths to accompany visions as fragmented and nightmarish as ever. 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