{"id":310,"date":"2017-05-06T07:27:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-06T07:27:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/2017\/05\/06\/httptheblurb-com-aureviewsfading-frontier-by-deerhunter-music-review\/"},"modified":"2017-05-06T07:27:24","modified_gmt":"2017-05-06T07:27:24","slug":"httptheblurb-com-aureviewsfading-frontier-by-deerhunter-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theblurb.com.au\/wp\/httptheblurb-com-aureviewsfading-frontier-by-deerhunter-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Fading Frontier by Deerhunter – music review"},"content":{"rendered":"

That Deerhunter has been on a roll is a bit self-evident and although there were some who felt their last album, Monomania<\/i><\/a>, was a step backwards Fading Frontier<\/i> leaves little doubt about the band\u2019s place in the indie hierarchy. The fact that those people who scoffed at Monomania\u2019s<\/i> gritty exterior simply didn\u2019t get it is probably due more to the weird sequencing which put that LP\u2019s two weakest tracks up front than any perceived decline in Bradford Cox and Lockett Pundt\u2019s songwriting abilities. Such is the life and times of an artist at the very top of their game. Ever since Cryptograms<\/i> was released in 2007 Deerhunter has been the most talked about, written about group in all of indie-dom. But unlike many of their contemporaries who have wilted under the bright lights of public scrutiny these dudes just double-down on their legacy and have put together a startlingly brilliant string of records unmatched in the 21st century. Heady words? Hyperbole? Give this one a listen and get back to me.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been a strange time for Cox leading up to this album. He suffered a serious car accident last year and though he denies that experience informed the songs on this record it had<\/i> to at least color it somewhat grey. Not that Cox is usually all unicorns and rainbows to start with. The gangly, gay frontman has Marfan Syndrome which manifests itself with symptoms as diverse as elongated fingers, hands and limbs; abnormal eye lense dislocation; back, leg and abdominal pain \u2013 well, let\u2019s just say it pretty much sucks. Maybe Cox\u2019s art has been elevated by all these trials in his life. If so then we are the beneficiaries. In \u201cLiving My Life\u201d he sings \u201cWill you tell me when you find out how to conquer all this fear\/I\u2019ve been spending too much time chasing a fading frontier.\u201d Not only does that explain where the album title comes from but it conforms to the central premise that life is pain, art born of such pain can be life-affirming. Even as we experience it vicariously, it\u2019s hard not to get swept up into it. The next song, the glorious \u201cBreaker\u201d, begins with: \u201cChrist or credit\/What\u2019s the prize\/What\u2019s the edit.\u201d The duplicitous nature of modern life is driven home further by the fact that this song is the first duet between Cox and Pundt. \u201cJack-knifed on a side-street crossing\/I\u2019m still alive and that\u2019s something.\u201d Subconsciously he is obviously re-living events but like the best lyricists he is also concerned with the sound of each word, the meter of each line.<\/p>\n