Destroyer: "Dream Lover"

There’s nothing silly about a saxophone. Their frequent presence on Destroyer’s last album, Kaputt, invited discussion over whether Dan Bejar was embracing soft rock, or offering a shrewd parody of a soggy genre. But the saxophone sounded like the most concrete element on an album characterized by its dreamy quality—a rope leading out of the labyrinth, a blue light shining through the fog machine. Ever get drunk and want to sing karaoke by yourself, to yourself? Well, here was the album—and the instrument—for it. 

The saxophones on “Dream Lover” are not mournful, but exuberant. They don’t wander in, like a lonesome lush looking for last call. They leap out, as does Bejar, who’s at his Falstaffian apex. He’s romantic and rakish, singing about wind-swept adventures with his dream lover in that recognizably world weary voice, while peppering in a few bashful profanities. The music ascends toward a joyous conclusion, the saxophones squalling in indefatigable glee. Kaputt was a solitary record, but “Dream Lover” is a burst of energy to share with people un-cynical enough to see themselves in the double entendre of the song’s title. It’s the morning peeking over the horizon. “Aw, shit, here comes the sun,” he sings, surprised as anyone else. 

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