From his work in The New Pornographers and Swan Lake to countless solo releases as Destroyer, Dan Bejar has been cataloguing the human condition for over 30 years. In 2011, he achieved a minor indie breakout with Kaputt, a lush homage to 1980s soft rock. It was an album that feels increasingly ahead of its time with it’s mix of sumptuous jazz and layered pop structures. Now in 2025, we’re in a new era and Bejar’s voice feels more necessary than ever before on Dan’s Boogie.

As with the best Destroyer songs, the writing on Dan’s Boogie jumps from the page like reading from your favorite poet. The album provides the listener with vivid imagery through short situations and stories. One could maybe assume that this album would be incredibly scholarly, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. The intelligence of Dan Bejar’s writing is as present as it’s ever been, but the witty and humorous moments are very visible too.

One moment, he will be talking about a stockbroker who misses the heyday of the 1980s. Then, we’ll hear about a perverted person who silently admires a horse’s ass. Crude? Absolutely, but the juxtaposition of these two images tell a story. One of a person who feels lost in time, watching their life pass them by and the only way they can feel anything is through a screen. “You’ve been looking for a way out”, Bejar muses after the fact. “The Ignoramus of Love” sees Bejar in lounge chanteur mode singing about scarcity of purpose. It’s here that the album begins to open itself fully. He describes looking up at the sky and asking “what’s up there really?”. Rarely has Destroyer been this existential. But you can imagine Bejar, now in his early fifties, taking stock of what this might mean.

There is precious wisdom provided in every Destroyer release, but on Dan’s Boogie, we’re seemingly hitting an inflection point. These Boogie appear as individuals who seem to be stuck. Perhaps they are feeling the effects of love and loss like on “The Same Thing as Nothing At All” or asking themselves why they deserve “blissful sensation” on the title track. There are a disarming amount of moments like this where someone is looking for something that eludes them. It’s a relatable position for sure.

On “Cataract Time”, we see these themes of age and time blossom into a lush, magnificent crescendo. This song is the centerpiece of Dan’s Boogie. It stands beside the true masterpieces in the Destroyer catalogue. Bejar described this song as “a moment of reckoning”, which might be surprising during an initial listen. The production by John Collins is incredibly dense, weaving in colorful guitar, organ, and synthesizers into the finest cocktail you’ve ever had. The sax towards the latter half of the track is reminiscent of Kaputt and writing is just as good, if not better.

Bejar lets “Cataract Time” breathe and go the mile. He is luring us in with a beautiful groove only to disarm us with some of his most powerful words yet. There is talk of “carving yourself out of illusion” and an individual who is “tired of pretending”. It’s not hard to imagine yourself in this position too. Peeling yourself, your true self out of the facade you present to people. This is a record about looking out at what’s out there and coming to terms with what you see. “Cataract Time” is a deep breath on a cold morning, a solitary moment of quiet; a reflection.

What really IS our place in this world as we age? How do we deal with our environments changing? What are the risks of remaining stagnant as the world shifts and morphs into something unrecognizable? At a time where critical conversation and reflection are discouraged, albums like Dan’s Boogie remind us why it’s important to keep perspective.

Dan’s Boogie is available on Bandcamp