Destroyer - LABYRINTHITIS

LABYRINTHITIS brims with mystic and intoxicating terrain, the threads of Dan Bejar's notes woven through by allusions at once eerily familiar and intimately perplexing. The record circuitously draws ever inward, each turn offering giddy surprise, anxious esoterica, and thumping emotionality at equal odds. Throughout, LABYRINTHITIS insists that everything's not all right, but that even isolation and dissolution can be a source of joy - stepping into the sunlight at the other end of the maze in your ear, Bejar strolling alongside like a wild-maned, leisure-suited minotaur.

More than an arcane puzzle for the listener, LABYRINTHITIS warps and winds through unfamiliar territory for Bejar as well. Written largely in 2020 and recorded the following spring, the album most often finds Bejar and frequent collaborator John Collins seeking the mythic artifacts buried somewhere under the dance floor. Initial song ideas ventured forth from disco, Art of Noise, and New Order, Bejar and Collins championing the over-the-top madcappery.

Standard vinyl edition produced by Merge Records in 2022. Includes download card.