1996–2001
We'll Build Them a Golden Bridge, Destroyer's 1996 debut, is made up of sixteen lo-fi home-recordings. One reviewer suggested that the album combines Bejar's "gift for melodies" with “a concerted effort to make the recording downright inconsumable; the guitars are always out of tune, and the vocals of Fisher-Price quality. 'Static means punk / tuning is junk,' Bejar moans on one track.” [5] (Ideas for Songs, released on cassette in 1997, features songs akin to those on his first album. The cassette stemmed from a request to contribute songs for a compilation album.[6])
As Bejar gained popularity in Vancouver's music scene, he was joined by producer John Collins for 1998's City of Daughters, which was recorded at a proper studio. Pitchfork noted that the songs still sounded "homespun," also noting "[t]he wordiness that would become something of a trademark is in full effect," but that "unlike much of what came later, not every line is worthy of examination."[7]
Thief (2000) embodied "Bejar's first stab at matching his grandiose, idiosyncratic vision to a showier sound;" it was the first to feature a backing band on every track.[8] The record's "anthemic yet understated"[9] piano-driven ballads have characteristically enigmatic lyrics, though some reviewers interpreted them as critiques of the music industry.[10][11]
Streethawk: A Seduction (2001) realized the sonic refinement started with City of Daughters. Bejar put it this way: "I don't think it gives credence to any kind of conceptualization of the records, but I hope that City of Daughters, Thief, and Streethawk will pop into some kind of a progression that ends with Streethawk.“ [12] A critical success, the album (retrospectively) received a rating of 9.1/10 from Pitchfork.[7]
2002–2007
The 2002 rock album This Night was a dramatic change in style. The looser, less rehearsed style was criticized as "messy [and] haphazard without purpose,"[13] though other critics praised the "beautiful mess of sounds" as "challenging... [and] a powerful, cohesive whole."[11] In a 2006 interview (after the release of Your Blues and Destroyer's Rubies), Bejar said the album "came together pretty quickly - we probably could have used more than four or five days to mix the whole thing, but that's all hindsight. It's still my favorite Destroyer record."[12]
Your Blues (2004) saw Destroyer take another unexpected turn, using MIDI instrumentation for almost all the backing music. Bejar coined the term "European blues" to describe its unique, theatrical sound.[14] One reviewer pointed out that "Bejar’s unusual voice sounds more confident, and higher up" in the synth-rich arrangements.[15] In yet another twist, the EP Notorious Lightning & Other Works reworked six tracks from the record with a live band, the very thing the LP had forsaken (the band was Frog Eyes, who toured with Destroyer in support of Your Blues).
Bejar returned with a live band for 2006's Destroyer's Rubies, delivering arguably his most confident record up to that point. The backing band took new-found prominence and, according to Bejar, "[t]he production seems... warm and lush and pretty focused on just making the band sound good and having everything sit well together."[12] NOW Magazine observed, "[w]hile the sheer density of Bejar’s writing can be overwhelming, Destroyer’s Rubies is, on a musical level, the most ’accessible’ disc he’s released."[16]
2008–2013
For Trouble in Dreams (2008), "there was a scary lack of ideas coming into the record," Bejar admitted.[17] Destroyer's piano player Ted Bois took it upon himself, as an alternative to keyboard and piano accompaniment, to create all string and synth arrangements for the songs.[17] At the time, Bejar said it was the "hardest record" to make.[17]
After the 2009 EP Bay of Pigs came 2011's full-length album, Kaputt (featuring a slightly modified "Bay of Pigs" track). Bejar cited influences such as Miles Davis and Roxy Music for his new jazz-infused, lounge music-inspired, sophisti-pop direction. In multiple interviews, Bejar variously stressed that he "sang in a completely different manner, almost unconscious of even singing, more like speaking into a vacuum, and was really happy with the results."[18][19] The record entailed a number of firsts for Destroyer: first national television performance (on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon); first official music video; first female backing vocals; and the first time Bejar performed without an instrument on tour - his concentration placed solely on his singing. Kaputt was short listed for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize [20] and was Pitchfork's second best album of 2011.[21]
Although smaller in scale, Destroyer's fourth EP "Five Spanish Songs" continued to surprise listeners. Sung entirely in Spanish, Bejar covered songs by Sr. Chinarro (es). Bejar's own tongue-in-cheek press release announcing the new songs began: "It was 2013. The English language seemed spent, despicable, not easily singable."[22]
2014–present
Bejar released Poison Season on August 28, 2015. Bejar notes that the album's sound grew from "just really getting into what we were sounding like playing live [following Kaputt]."[4] Bejar added that he would not have been able to make such an ambitious album if Kaputt had not been successful.[23] Recorded with a live band and a pronounced string section, the album's "grand cinematic set of songs"[23] feature Bejar singing with a broader range than before: "This is the first record that I've ever done that comes close to my idea of myself as a singer," Bejar said.[24]
In 2017, Bejar released ken.
Plaza Trinidad
Destroyer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
This time it was dense light vs. the azure
I was high as a kite, I was never coming home tonight
And I couldn’t believe how loud it was.
What devilry the source of this screaming
You and your dress: fair game.
The birds off Plaza Trinidad: insane.
I was stuck inside a river’s flow, a corridor’s glow's idea of an ocean
Okay, it’s agreed I wasn’t much to look at then
Known mostly for the whites of my eyes
A hen clucking escape from her torn surface
And I couldn’t believe how loud it was
What devilry the source of this screaming
You and your dress forgave the birds of Plaza Trinidad
and soon you can watch them go!
I was stuck inside a river’s flow, a corridor’s glow
A world at war! The kind of thing we've seen before!
Dense light vs. the azure
I was high as a kite, I was never coming home tonight.
And I couldn’t believe––
How loud it was.
How loud it was.
And I couldn’t believe how loud it was, how loud it was.
And I couldn’t believe how loud it was, how loud it was.
The song "Plaza Trinidad" by Destroyer tells a story of being caught in the middle of a chaotic world, with war and noise everywhere. The first verse describes the singer's confusion and disorientation, as they try to make sense of the opposing forces around them. They feel high and unmoored, with no hope of finding their way home. The second verse introduces another character, "you and your dress," and describes the beauty of the birds flying off the Plaza Trinidad in contrast to the surrounding chaos. The singer is bewildered by the noise and intensity of the situation, but finds comfort in observing the natural world.
As the song progresses, the singer continues to feel overwhelmed, describing themselves as "stuck inside a river's flow" and "a corridor's glow's idea of an ocean." They feel insignificant and unimportant, but remain captivated by the beauty of the world around them. The repeated refrain of "how loud it was" emphasizes the overwhelming nature of the situation and the singer's inability to comprehend it. Despite the chaos, the final line suggests a kind of acceptance or resignation: "And I couldn't believe how loud it was, how loud it was."
Overall, the lyrics of "Plaza Trinidad" paint a vivid and surreal picture of being caught in the middle of a chaotic world, with war and beauty coexisting in equal measure. The singer is both overwhelmed and fascinated by the intensity of their surroundings, and finds solace in observing the natural world even as they struggle to make sense of their own place within it.
Line by Line Meaning
I was caught in the middle of a world war
I found myself in the midst of an intense, possibly internal conflict.
This time it was dense light vs. the azure
The opposing forces in this conflict were darkness and light.
I was high as a kite, I was never coming home tonight
I was under the influence and not intending to return home that evening.
And I couldn’t believe how loud it was.
The noise level was beyond what I deemed possible.
What devilry the source of this screaming
What kind of wickedness produce such a piercing sound?
You and your dress: fair game.
You and your attire were attracting attention.
The birds off Plaza Trinidad: insane.
The birds around Plaza Trinidad were behaving erratically.
You can watch them go!
You can witness their strange behaviour.
I was stuck inside a river’s flow, a corridor’s glow's idea of an ocean
I felt trapped in a narrow and monotonous existence.
Okay, it’s agreed I wasn’t much to look at then
I accepted that I wasn't particularly attractive at that time.
Known mostly for the whites of my eyes
My defining characteristic was my eye colour.
A hen clucking escape from her torn surface
I was struggling to break free from my limitations.
You and your dress forgave the birds of Plaza Trinidad
You and your clothing brought peace to the hectic birds of Plaza Trinidad.
and soon you can watch them go!
The birds will soon return to their natural state thanks to your calming presence.
A world at war! The kind of thing we've seen before!
This conflict is just another example of the recurring state of war in the world.
And I couldn’t believe––
The intense and overwhelming nature of the situation left me speechless.
How loud it was.
The volume of the noise was mind-boggling.
And I couldn’t believe how loud it was, how loud it was.
The deafening level of the noise left me in disbelief.
And I couldn’t believe how loud it was, how loud it was.
The extreme volume was too much for me to comprehend.
Contributed by Anna D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.