Ken (album)

Ken (stylized in all lowercase) is the eleventh studio album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer, released on October 20, 2017 by Merge Records.[1] Band Leader Dan Bejar began writing ken while on tour in Washington State. Many of the songs and sounds of the album were aesthetic callbacks to Bejar's teenage years in the mid 1980's, with loose ties to Thatcher era politics.[2]

Ken
Studio album by
Destroyer
ReleasedOctober 20, 2017
Genre
Length39:47
LabelMerge
ProducerJosh Wells
Destroyer chronology
Poison Season
(2015)		 Ken
(2017)		 Have We Met
(2020)

Background

Band leader Dan Bejar "lifted" the name ken from an early version of the song "The Wild Ones" by Suede. Despite sharing a title, Bejar claims that he "was not thinking about Suede when making this record" and that it was " unclear to me what that purpose is, or what the connection is".[3] Unlike previous records, Poison Season and Kaputt, Bejar composed most of the songs on guitar rather than on a computer. The majority of the songs on ken were written and debuted live while Bejar was touring in early 2017.[2] In an interview with SPIN magazine, Bejar stated that recording ken felt like "singing to my teenage self" and was heavily influenced by the bands House of Love, and Church. [4][5] Bejar characterizes ken as the first record where "a producer swept in," stating that many of the drum machines, minimalist rhythms, and synth patterns on tracks like "Sky's Grey" "came as a surprise to me."[6] The song “La Regle du Jeu” became more "euro-cabaret" in the studios compared to the original demo, with Bejar commenting "All of a sudden, the song had way more fangs than I had ever imagined."[2]

Lyrics

Bejar stated that ken is influenced by the "casual extremism of a young person" and his personality as a teenager while writing ken.[7] Each song blends the themes of "madness, or disease, or violence, or decadence and depravity" that were present on other Destroyer albums, but "seem to be more constant on this album."[4] In a press release for the album, Bejar stated that he was thinking about his experience with music leading up to the resignation of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister of Great Britain while writing ken.[8] The opening track "Sky's Grey" is Bejar's self-described "sort of state of the union address" for "Destroyer-world." Likening it to the ending of the film "The Seventh Seal," the lyric from "Sky's Grey," “I’ve been working on the new Oliver Twist” is described by Bejar as "a fool’s errand" or "antidote" in the midst of "dreariness and collapse."[7] The song "In the Morning," borrows lyrics from the Debarge song, "Rhythm of The Night," in the verse “bands sing their songs and then disappear into the rhythm of the night.” Bejar partially based the song "Saw You at the Hospital" off his three-day stay in a Swiss hospital with pneumonia during the tour for Poison Season. A few lyrics written in that time made it on to the record. However, a lot of the original material was scrapped when Bejar decided to take the song in a more surrealist direction.[7] Despite sharing its name with the French film La Règle Du Jeu directed by Jean Renoir, Bejar stated that the song "La Règle Du Jeu" was not inspired by the work, but rather that he liked saying the title.[4]

Release

Destroyer announced the album on August 8, 2017, including the release of the first song from the album, "Sky's Grey," by way of a lyric video posted to YouTube.[9] The album's release date, track list, and artwork were announced the same day. A music video for the song "Tinseltown Swimming in Blood" directed by Karen Zolo and starring Bejar was released on September 21, 2017.[10] Despite the minimal style of ken, Bejar toured with his 8-piece band, claiming "I think of the songs will lend themselves well to being blown-out and put through the wringer by us."[11]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.4/10[12]
Metacritic78/100[13]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
The A.V. ClubB[15]
Exclaim!8/10[16]
Financial Times[17]
The Guardian[18]
The Independent[19]
Mojo[20]
The Observer[21]
Pitchfork7.9/10[22]
Uncut6/10[23]

Ken holds a 78 out of 100 on Metacritic, indicating generally favorable reviews.[24] In her review for Pitchfork, Amanda Petrusich called the album "Lynchian" and compared Bejar's lyrics to Leonard Cohen on the track "Sky's Grey."[3] Kayleigh Hughes of Consequence of Sound characterized ken as Destroyers most accessible album. In her review Hughes named the track “A Light Travels Down the Catwalk” as the album's highlight, likening it to the film The Neon Demon. Hughes was more critical of the album's second half calling it a "letdown," singling out the tracks "Rome" and “La Regle Du Jeu” as "meandering."[25] Winston Cook-Wilson of SPIN critiqued aspects of the album's instrumentals calling them a "plasticine" background "for some of the strongest, or at least stickiest, lyrics Bejar’s ever written."[26] Andy Gill of The Independent was more positive, awarding the album a perfect five stars and calling it "possibly [the] best" collection of Destroyer songs.[27]

Accolades

The album was shortlisted for the Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2019.[28]

Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Drowned in Sound Favourite Albums of 2017
2017
78
[29]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Sky's Grey"4:06
2."In the Morning"3:17
3."Tinseltown Swimming in Blood"4:46
4."Cover from the Sun"2:13
5."Saw You at the Hospital"3:30
6."A Light Travels Down the Catwalk"3:08
7."Rome"5:01
8."Sometimes in the World"2:34
9."Ivory Coast"4:49
10."Stay Lost"2:22
11."La Regle du Jeu"4:01
Total length:39:47

Personnel
  • Daniel Bejar – bass, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synthesizer, vocals
  • Zach Blackstone – assistant engineer
  • Ted Bois – piano
  • Nicolas Bragg – electric guitar
  • David Carswell – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
  • JP Carter – effects, trumpet
  • John Collins – bass
  • Robin Mitchell – design
  • Joseph Shabason – effects, saxophone
  • Jason Ward - mastering
  • Josh Wells – bass, drum programming, drums, electric guitar, percussion, piano, piano strings, synthesizer, mixing, engineer

Charts
Chart Peak
position
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[30] 17
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References
  1. Merge Records
  2. "Catching Up With Destroyer : The Aquarium Drunkard Interview". Aquarium Drunkard. 2017-10-13. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  3. "Destroyer: ken". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  4. "Interview: Destroyer Talks New Record 'ken'". Spin. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  5. Friedman, Nathaniel (2017-10-23). "Destroyer's Dan Bejar on His New Album and How the Doors Are Actually Good". Vulture. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  6. Prickett, Sam (2017-10-09). "Treating depravity: A conversation with Destroyer's Dan Bejar". Treble. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  7. "Destroyer's Dan Bejar Decodes Every Song on His New Album, ken". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-04-26.
  8. Kim, Michelle. "Destroyer Announces New Album ken, Shares New Song: Listen". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2020-04-29.
  9. Kim, Michelle (August 8, 2017). "Destroyer Announces New Album ken, Shares New Song". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  10. Destroyer - Tinseltown Swimming in Blood, retrieved 2020-04-24
  11. Terich, Jeff (2017-10-09). "Treating depravity: A conversation with Destroyer's Dan Bejar". Treble. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  12. "ken by Destroyer reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  13. "Reviews and Tracks for Ken by Destroyer". Metacritic. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  14. Donelson, Marcy. "Ken – Destroyer". AllMusic. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  15. Gerardi, Matt (October 20, 2017). "Destroyer, ken". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  16. Hudson, Alex (October 19, 2017). "Destroyer: Ken". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  17. Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (October 20, 2017). "Destroyer: Ken — 'entertaining dream logic'". Financial Times. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  18. Simpson, Dave (October 19, 2017). "Destroyer: Ken review – indie polymath moves from hurtling shoegaze to blissed-out electronica". The Guardian. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  19. Gill, Andy (October 19, 2017). "Album reviews: Niall Horan – Flicker, Pink – Beautiful Trauma, Destroyer – Ken". The Independent. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  20. Barnes, Mike (December 2017). "Destroyer: ken". Mojo (289): 93.
  21. Mardles, Paul (October 22, 2017). "Destroyer: Ken review – shot through with scorn". The Observer. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
  22. Petrusich, Amanda (October 20, 2017). "Destroyer: ken". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
  23. Mitchum, Rob (November 2017). "Destroyer: Ken". Uncut (246): 26.
  24. Ken by Destroyer, retrieved 2020-04-24
  25. "Album Review: Destroyer - ken". Consequence of Sound. 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  26. "Review: Destroyer - 'ken'". Spin. 2017-10-20. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  27. "Album reviews: Niall Horan, Pink, Destroyer and more". The Independent. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  28. "Shawn Mendes and the Weeknd lead the 2019 Juno nominations". CBC Music, January 29, 2019.
  29. "Drowned in Sound's Favourite Albums of 2017". Drowned in Sound. November 22, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  30. "Destroyer Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
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