★★★★½
At first,Fading Frontiersounds like some of the safest music Deerhunter have released to date. Compared to previous releases, the contours are smoothed and the grit is somewhat absent.
But let this record grow on you and it’s hugely affecting. It seems now that for all the toil and tantrum that surrounded Monomania’s release back in 2013, it pales in comparison to the gravity that surrounds this release. The album is endearingly earnest, most notably on tracks like ‘Living My Life’, on which lyrically Bradford Cox seems to favour a simplistic existence “off the grid” – a move toward having nothing to prove rather than asking themselves questions like, “[Is] it punk?”
Some things never change, however. Bradford’s still singing about decaying bodies and greying flesh – he’s been doing so as far back as 2007’s Fluorescent Grey. Lockett Pundt still sings on a couple of tracks. You’ll still be moved by songs like ‘Duplex Planet’ and ‘Take Care’ the way you used to when you’d listen to Halcyon Digest.
As refreshing as it was for Deerhunter to release a record as singularly focused as Monomania, songs like ‘Leather And Wood’ – a six-minute, piano-driven slow-burner – remind us that it’s equally exciting to see this band get back into tackling a vast sonic territory all on one record again.
Deerhunter’sFading Frontieris out now through 4AD/Remote Control.
