Few bands, 14 albums into their career – and 14 years after releasing one of this millennium’s most celebrated indie rock albums – can still hold the artistic flag high. But Dan Bejar’s chameleon-like Destroyer project is the exception that proves the rule.

The Canadian indie eccentric, who also has stakes in the groups The New Pornographers and Swan Lake, formed Destroyer as a folk/singer-songwriter-oriented solo project, which debuted in 1996 and for many years lived an exclusive life in the musical underground.

That changed, however, when Destroyer – now a sextet – released their ninth studio album ’Kaputt’ in 2011. With its seductive mix of lounge pop, smooth jazz, soft rock, and synth-electro, combined with Bejar’s theatrically neighing croon, surreal-cinematic lyrics, and exceptionally strong songwriting, the album sent the indie world into a frenzy. It received rave reviews from outlets such as Pitchfork, The Guardian, and NME, and ended up on year-end lists from Pitchfork, Uncut, and Mojo. Since then, Destroyer has released a series of strong albums, and in both 2020 and 2022, the group received ’Best New Album’ recognition from Pitchfork for ’Have We Met’ and ’Labyrinthitis’, respectively.

After a three-year release hiatus, the Canadian indie darlings are now back with their 14th studio album, ’Dan’s Boogie’. The reception confirms that Destroyer remains a top-tier band with its own unique expression. The Guardian awarded it the maximum 5 out of 5 stars, while Pitchfork gave it an impressive 8.0 and the following praise: ’It is a record of complete control, full string arrangements, live jazz piano glissandos. Tasteful guitar squawk’.

Live, Destroyer has celebrated several successes in Denmark with concerts at venues such as Roskilde Festival, VEGA, Jazzhouse, and Pumpehuset. The latter will once again have the pleasure of hosting Bejar & co. when Destroyer performs at the Copenhagen venue on Friday, November 14.