On October 20th, Destroyer (Dan Bejar) returns with his 12th studio album ken. Bejar shared the following about his upcoming release:
Sometime last year, I discovered that the original name for “The Wild Ones” (one of the great English-language ballads of the last 100 years or so) was “Ken.” I had an epiphany, I was physically struck by this information. In an attempt to hold on to this feeling, I decided to lift the original title of that song and use it for my own purposes. It’s unclear to me what that purpose is, or what the connection is. I was not thinking about Suede when making this record. I was thinking about the last few years of the Thatcher era. Those were the years when music first really came at me like a sickness, I had it bad. Maybe “The Wild Ones” speaks to that feeling, probably why Suede made no sense in America. I think “ken” also means “to know.”
ken was produced by Josh Wells of Black Mountain, who has been the drummer in Destroyer since 2012. The album was recorded in its entirety in the jam space/studio space that the group calls The Balloon Factory. However, unlikePoison Season, ken was not recorded as a “band” record, though everyone in the band does make an appearance.
ken will also be available as a Deluxe LP: pressed on opaque yellow vinyl and including a bonus 7-inch single on black vinyl that contains solo acoustic versions of the album tracks “A Light Travels Down the Catwalk” and “Stay Lost.” Includes lyric insert and download card.
Check out the lyric video for the album’s first track “Sky’s Grey” (below)
Track Listing
1. Sky’s Grey
2. In the Morning
3. Tinseltown Swimming in Blood
4. Cover From the Sun
5. Saw You at the Hospital
6. A Light Travels Down the Catwalk
7. Rome
8. Sometimes In the World
9. Ivory Coast
10. Stay Lost
11. La Regle du Jeu