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Critic Reviews
90
Dan Bejar’s latest is perplexing, intriguing, sometimes infuriating, but rarely less than intoxicating.
4y
90
On LABYRINTHITIS, indie rock’s Destroyer address North American anxiousness while successfully tackling styles hitherto untouched by the project.
4y
85
Labyrinthitis is Bejar at his most villainous, challenging listeners and sneakily insulting those who are manifestations of today’s poorly-constructed diagram of self-worth.
4y
85
Dan Bejar’s marvelously inscrutable songwriting reaches beyond meaning. On his most live-sounding record in years, he finds clarity when language recedes and the music takes over.
4y
80
Labyrinthitis is another exciting step forward in Destroyer's never-ending evolution, delivering pleasant confusion and unexpected choices along with the kind of fractured but magical songwriting of which only Bejar is capable.
4y
80
Not everything gels perfectly, but considering how much ground he covers both musically and lyrically, Bejar almost never falls completely off the horse.
4y
80
It’s never boring to watch the progress of someone talented enough that their mastery begins to feel predictable
4y
80
If there’s a formula to figuring Destroyer’s Labyrithinitis out, it lies within Dan Bejar’s enigmatic mind.
4y
80
Labyrinthitis is another tantalising Destroyer album, one that resists being clutched too tight or loved too hard as it roams its peculiar world.
4y
76
Labyrinthitis is a tough nut to crack, or to be more precise, it’s an album for which multiple narratives can be true at once, despite being somewhat conflicting.
4y
70
Labyrinthitis, Destroyer’s 13th album, dances between ’80s-evoking anthems, moments of almost baroque jauntiness and near post-rock epics.
4y
70
LABYRINTHITIS, while overall accomplished, can seem like it’s holding back unnecessarily, and that a more constant presence from Bejar would make a world of difference.
4y
70
In Destroyer's world, oddness and romanticism still rule.
4y
70
Dan Bejar seems game to throw everything against the proverbial wall and see what sound it makes.
4y
60
It could be cool to hear Dan and co. venture further into this dancier direction.
3y
60
The Canadian rockers weave dreamy electronica through an album that buries frequent moments of brilliance beneath a bewildering collage of ideas.
4y
60
There’s a rich seam of cynicism flowing through the album’s veins, and it’s chock full of sonic surprises, too, but Bejar’s restlessly inventive kitchen-sink eclecticism sometimes makes for an uneven listen in the way that 10cc albums might have bewildered listeners on the mid-70s.
4y
60
Labyrinthitis is an eclectic album from an artist long past trying to impress anybody but his producer, which pays off here more often than not.
4y
Almost a Destroyer 'summer album' - at first I was disappointed that 'Tintoretto, It's for You' felt very much alone as a standout track and successful departure for Bejar, but now the (yes, 'Kaputt'ish) atmosphere of the release as a whole has established itself.
Today I'm calling 'LABYRINTHITIS' the second best Destroyer album...we'll see how I feel about it tomorrow.
THISISPRETTYGOODITIS
Destroyer I’m not familiar with, but I’m trying to get around to more new releases so I wanted to give it a shot. Anddd… Yeah It’s pretty good. There some things I really love here and there are some things I am not the biggest fan of. I’ll start with the positives. The production on this album is insanely good. The synths that are used and the atmospheres that are created are honestly amazing. The instrumental on It Takes a Thief hits really ... read more
Destroyer continues their odd habit of making great albums at the beginning of the decade
Silly observations aside, this really is one of the band's best albums. Warm and atmospheric, it builds wonderful layers of instrumentation into swirling, hypnotic hazes, but with enough emphasis on the bass and drums the listener is never truly lost in the mix.
LABYRINTHITIS continues Destroyer's exploration of synths within the band's music. This started with Kaputt in 2011, though they were mostly ... read more
as one of indie rock’s most notorious shapeshifters, dan bejar makes music that is impossible to pin down - over the course of his illustrious, decades-long career, he’s explored everything from acoustic folk rock to sophisti-pop. on his thirteenth solo album, 'labyrinthitis,' he makes music in mazes, touching at times on berlin-era bowie to new order-style synth-pop. though his lyrics are famously dense, the album reads as his take on the pandemic and its societal ... read more
Another great one. I love the danciness of this record. It has some highly replayable songs which I like a ton.
I also like the strange atmosphere this album has, hard to explain it properly.
![清水靖晃 [Yasuaki Shimizu] - Kiren](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/200x0/album/448290-kiren.jpg)
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Track List
| 1 | It's in Your Heart Now 6:55 | 84 |
| 2 | Suffer 3:29 | 81 |
| 3 | June 6:33 | 84 |
| 4 | All My Pretty Dresses 4:40 | 83 |
| 5 | Tintoretto, It's for You 3:05 | 78 |
| 6 | Labyrinthitis 3:19 | 70 |
| 7 | Eat the Wine, Drink the Bread 3:37 | 79 |
| 8 | It Takes a Thief 2:41 | 82 |
| 9 | The States 6:55 | 76 |
| 10 | The Last Song 2:34 | 71 |
Total Length: 43 minutes
Year End Lists
| #14 | / | Northern Transmissions |
| #16 | / | MAGNET |
| #17 | / | Exclaim! |
| #19 | / | Under the Radar |
| #29 | / | No Ripcord |
| #30 | / | Pitchfork |
| #34 | / | Paste |
| #40 | / | Beats Per Minute |
| #43 | / | Les Inrocks |
| #92 | / | Rough Trade (UK) |
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