Destroyer

Though Vancouver-born singer/songwriter Dan Bejar was always at the core of Destroyer, with many different players coming and going over the years, he insisted that it was a band rather than a solo project. There was a major evolution in the Destroyer sound over the course of their career that found them ending up as far from their beginnings as it's possible to get. The first Destroyer album, 1996's We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, was an ultra-lo-fi affair sporting a shambling, junk-shop sound and Bejar singing in cracked tones that challenged conventional concepts of tonality, ensuring an acquired-taste appeal at best. But by the early 2000s, the Destroyer sound became more fully fleshed-out, with an increased (if still eccentric) pop sensibility and Bejar adopting a more melodic singing style. Bejar became a member of indie-pop collective The New Pornographers as well, taking part in the their 2000 debut album, Mass Romantic, and remaining a part of the band while juggling Destroyer responsibilities. 2002's This Night bore more of a raw, rocking approach, but the follow-up, Your Blues found Bejar forging an insular musical universe framed by elaborate keyboard orchestrations. Subsequent albums incorporated the influences of everything from '70s glam rock to '80s pop. By the time of 2011's Kaputt and 2015's Poison Season, the Destroyer sound had evolved into a lush, lambent construction that had more to do with elegant productions like Roxy Music's Avalon and The Blue Nile's Hats than anything else. Bejar recused himself from the sessions for The New Pornographers' 2017 album, Whiteout Conditions (the first one he'd ever missed) due to conflicts with his work on a new Destroyer album, although both he and bandleader Carl Newman insisted it was not a permanent split.