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Deerhunter's "Halcyon Digest" from 2010 is the band's fourth full-length LP. The album is daring, experimental and simply gorgeous. For those who are not familiar with the band, lead singer Bradford Cox suffers with Marfan Syndrome, a disease in which the individual has extremely long body parts and undeveloped areas of the body. This disease has had an extremely large impact on Bradford, as most of his music is based off of his childhood suffering with the disease, and also his interesting day dreams about his personal life and friends.
The album kicks off with the slow junk-beat of the song "Earthquake." Clearly, on the first listen, one will think of Radiohead. The song perfectly pieces together parts that are slowly falling apart. Bradford's vocals on this first track sound similar to those of Thom Yorke. Earthquake slips into the second track, "Don't Cry," which is a simple guitar riff layered over airy vocals and a heavy bass line. The track compliments the next track, "Revival," beautifully. "Revival" will sound eerie/creepy for the listener the first time. It includes many stringed instruments and spread-out vocals. the 2nd and 3rd tracks of the record blend together very well. They slide into the 4th track, "Sailing," which is a personal and slow piece performed by Bradford backed by drummer Moses Archuleta's occasional tambourine. The song is quiet and peaceful. The 5th track, "Memory Boy," is a louder piece that is very short yet fun to listen to. The song breaks the sad, scary mood that is present on the record up until this point. The next track, "Desire Lines," is an excellent 6 minute song performed by guitarist Lockett Pundt. The track starts off serious and emotional but breaks into a nice jam about halfway through. The song slowly starts to fade out a little bit every 15 or so seconds in the last minute of the song. The next track, "Basement Scene," is another Bradford personal that contains extreme amounts of reverb and ghostly breathing. The track is pretty simple, but a gorgeous compliment to the previous track. The 8th track, "Helicopter," is probably the best song on the album. This song happens to be the most colorful song every composed by Deerhunter. Every time I listen to it, I want to cry. "Helicopter" opens up with Bradford's high pitched, tear-bringing vocals, held together by a spacious guitar line. As the song moves to the chorus, the guitar becomes surrounded by a dreamy, captivating like noise that swallows the listener into it's deep realm. This pattern continues as you slowly start to fall into the song's powerful grip. The lyrics and the music on this track itself are very powerful. The song ends with millions of dreamy/water-like pops and flashes. To kick the mood off, Lockett Pundt's "Fountain Stairs," the 9th track on the album, makes the listener feel welcome. It is a fun, and energy filled track that introduces saxophone to the album. The 10th track, "Coronado," is a raunchy track that reminds me of their 5th album, "Monomania". "Coronado" is an old-school sounding track lead by a saxophone and Bradford's confident vocal line. The song is definitely different than any other track on the record. It can appeal to almost any rock music listener, and the song proves that Deerhunter can have a little fun when recording music. This fun mood is kicked away by the 11th/final track on the record, "He Would Have Laughed." The song is a personal dedication towards Bradford's old friend/musician Jay Reatard, who died tragically at an early age. The song starts with Bradford's short guitar line followed by Lockett Pundt's dreamy guitar line. The song is decently fast paced and emotional. There are many different elements of drum experimentation as well as guitar/vocal loop experimentation on this track. About midway through the track, the pace is slowed down and dreaminess fills the song's atmosphere. Bradford starts to sing confidently and emotionally. The track ends with dreamy guitar which suddenly ends without warning. At this point, the record is over.
"Halcyon Digest" is not an immediate album. It will take several listens for a listener to understand what the band is trying to achieve musically and emotionally. I strongly recommend that people purchase this record because it is so gorgeous in many different ways.
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