Eccentric, eclectic, frequently flamboyant experimental rock and pop by the the Vancouver multi-instrumentalist Dan Bejar, following 2022’s Labyrinthitis with nine new songs in his inimitable talk-singing style with stream-of-consciousness lyrics and personnas from hustlers to lounge singers. In opener The Same Thing As Nothing at all, Bowie-esque/ Mike Garson piano ripples and grand drums rolls his accompanying spoken vocals of dream-like, drily delivered phrases such as “Walk miles for your Turkish Delight in the rain / The opera house is a jam space for the desperate and insane.” The catchy, highly eccentric Hydroplanning Off the Edge of the World is more of an existential musing, filled with oddball, witty lines: “My life's a giant lid closing on an eye”. The Ignoramus of Love is a slow, gentle, country-ish/classical piece of lovelorn philosophising, while the title track is brisk waltz-time number with romantic strings, like something from a musical. It’s all eccentric, but strangely magnetic. Bologna is another standout with a fabulous bassline and smoky, noir-ish vocals by guest Fiver. The final four tracks melt into gentler territory, but also rather beautiful, particularly Cataract Time, moving to the simple piano and vocal slower farewell track, Travel Light. “There’s a whole world out there waiting for you tonight - travel light.” Beguiling, mystifying and oddly magical. Out on Merge Records.
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