Album Review: Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan

Dirty Projectors
Swing Lo Magellan
Rating: Woof Daddy

2009's Bitte Orca was Dirty Projector's breakout record, finding David Longstreth tempering his avant-garde tendencies somewhat and even coming out with a border-line pop track, "Stillness Is The Move," which could have found itself on more adventurous R&B station, and even found a fan in Solange Knowles, who did her own cover version. Of course, Bitte Orca had its fair share of odd time signatures, atonal guitar excursions, and general flights of fancy, which made it all the more odd that it found as much success as it did. Follow up Swing Lo Magellan is, according to Longstreth, "an album of songs, an album of songwriting," and it shows in more structured song arrangements and less of the wild streak shown on previous albums. Not to say this is some play for mainstream success, it is an odd pop record, one that is not instantly accessible, however, it is by far Longstreth's most stream-lined and direct effort.

In Swing Lo Magellan, the songs all seem to be about someone searching for some sort of truth or answer to a burdensome question. The meaning and purpose of life in "About To Die" is a question never answered, the character awakening to "Look there the mirror a zombie stands staring/Vacant and glaring pronouncing your name."



Over a breezy beat and sweet acoustic guitars, the deceptively jaunty title track contemplates a world of searching that ends up solely in defeat. The track ending somberly with the realization that "I saw my friend in a pool of light/all drowned in doubt and shame/and I knew that I had lost my sight."



Amber Coffman's solo turn on "The Socialites" is a perfect character study of being on the outside looking in, knowing that "They’ll act surprised, apologize/Won't ever let on the face you wear is wrong."



Longstreth retreated from the world in the recording of the record, spending a year in isolation in a small house, meticulously producing the record. There is an intimacy and warmth to the record that comes across in the arrangements, which carry the heavy weight of the themes that always threaten but never seem to topple things over. The gorgeous backing vocals add the right amount of tension and release in first single "Gun Has No Trigger," which details a life of frustration and defeat.



Hand claps and a loopy guitar riff punctuate the soft, harmonized vocals on "Just From Chevron," which bleeds into the wonderful album centerpiece "Dance For You," featuring a gorgeous/go-for-broke vocal from Longstreth, which adds some needed hope to the record, singing that "There is an answer/I haven't found it/But I will keep dancing till I do."



Longstreth's flexible voice warms the chilly experimental backing of "See What She Seeing," the clicking/clacking percussion and warped guitars no match for his golden tones and the late entry of gorgeous harmonies and strings.



Final track "Irresponsible Tune" basically sums up the record beautifully. We are all here moving through birth, life, and death with no real rhyme or reason to it all, and with no answers regardless how long you search. While this seems like a pointless exercise at times, you have to go on. Just have to find the one thing that makes it all worthwhile. For Longstreth that is music; passionately singing "With our songs, we're alone/but without songs we're lost/and life is pointless, harsh, and long."



This song also sums up my view of life as well, that through music and songs we are able to get through life and its never ending challenges. Swing Lo Magellan was not an easy listen at first and took a long time to weave its way into my blood. It is Dirty Projectors' most consistent release so far and will definitely feature high up in my list of albums of the year.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.