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Jan 31, 2020Compared to 2017’s ken, a gothic-sounding record distinguished by chillier tones and pared-down lyrics, his masterful new album Have We Met sets a larger canvas. Produced by bandmate John Collins, the music is sweeping and bold and surprising.
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Jan 29, 2020All of this adds up: if you’ve enjoyed anything Dan Bejar has done under the Destroyer moniker, you’ll love Have We Met. If you’ve never heard a Destroyer album before, you’ll probably love it too.
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Jan 30, 2020Have We Met, though perhaps less ambitious than Destroyer’s best work, is nevertheless their freshest and most enjoyable record in years.
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Feb 20, 2020It's only after several listens that the album's wholeness clarifies. Because the tracks tend to be downtempo, reflective, and downright sleepy, it takes time and patience to realize Bejar is working like a good storyteller.
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Feb 5, 2020The result is a markedly retro-futurist sound, from the OMD-ish ‘Kinda Dark’ to ‘It Just Doesn’t Happen’, the synth line on which sounds suspiciously similar to a new wave rendition of Salt-N-Pepa’s ‘Push It’. At times, the music veers so close to kitsch that it may very well alienate some listeners from the get-go. Bejar’s songwriting remains as deft, cryptic and mosaic as ever though.
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Feb 4, 2020Have We Met is an album to recommend to those who want the meat and potatoes of what the project is about; it could've been self-titled.
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Feb 3, 2020Have We Met is another new departure, yet it still has that familiar strange storytelling swagger that’s at the heart of Destroyer.
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Jan 31, 2020On Have We Met, Bejar responds to a world on fire with a strange, and at times unnerving, calm. The absurdity of this moment suits him well.
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Jan 30, 2020Have We Met is Destroyer at its inscrutable, poetic best, its elegance poised on a rip-tide of violence.
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Jan 30, 2020Even at their poppiest, Destroyer remain an acquired taste. This time around, it’s one more than worth acquiring.
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UncutJan 27, 2020Irresistible examples of Bejar's blend of soft rock, dream-pop and more idiosyncratic elements. [Mar 2020, p.27]
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MojoJan 27, 2020The good news is that Have We Met shares melodic strengths with his previous high-water marks. [Mar 2020, p.88]
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Q MagazineJan 27, 2020Like eclipse glasses, these songs are a way to see things too intense to stare at directly. Peer through them, though, and there's Bejar's world, darkness and beauty visible. [Mar 2020, p.121]
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Jan 27, 2020Bejar the enigmatic, drunken poet has for several Destroyer albums now taken a back seat to Bejar the singer and bandleader. And while the singing on Have We Met remains tastefully restrained, lyrically there are glimpses of the younger, brasher Bejar here.
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Jan 30, 2020The result is a hermetic record that is practically self-contained within a computer hard drive. Yet Have We Met never lacks for atmosphere, or a sense of unpredictability that feels kinetic.
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Rolling StoneFeb 3, 2020His wry lyrics ("You're looking good in spite of the light") add an uncanny whimsy. [Feb 2020, p.85]
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Feb 3, 2020While Have We Met doesn't sound quite like top-shelf Destroyer, it's a fine testament to Bejar's talent and his gift for having things both ways at once, lyrically droll and musically cool and on point.
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Jan 28, 2020It makes for immersive listening, even when tracks fail to sustain themselves. ... Despite its digressions, Have We Met is rich and varied enough to offer more than just throwback thrills.
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Feb 14, 2020Have We Met is one of Bejar’s most interesting so far. But the grating oh-so-indie-look-at-me lyrics bash against the beauty of the beats. Maybe, just maybe, Destroyer should focus on soundtracks from now on.
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Jan 30, 2020His outlook on the world is no happier than it was before, but the lack of a bigger band brings out a fresher sound in the Destroyer canon. It loses some energy in that regard, especially compared to the magnificent ‘Kaputt’, but it does show that, with 13 albums under his belt, Bejar still has plenty to say and even more fantastical ways to say it.
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Jan 27, 2020It's a surprisingly spotty album from an artist who rarely puts a foot wrong.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 24 out of 31
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Mixed: 6 out of 31
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Negative: 1 out of 31
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Jan 31, 2020
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Mar 22, 2020
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Mar 9, 2020