Dan Bejar, a.k.a. Destroyer, is streaming his new Spanish language EP, Five Spanish Songs, in full ahead of its November 29th release date via Merge. Take a listen below (via Hype Machine).
The EP was produced by JC/DC, recorded at their studio in Vancouver earlier this summer, and features musical contributions from Nicolas Bragg, David Carswell, John Collins, Stephen Hamm, and Josh Wells.
In an issued statement, Bejar discussed his motivations for recording the EP:
It was 2013. The English language seemed spent, despicable, not easily singable. It felt over for English; good for business transactions, but that’s about it. The only other language I know is Spanish, and the only Spanish songs I really know are those of Sr. Chinarro, led by Antonio Luque. I’ve been a decades-long fan of how he conducted his affairs, his strange words, his melodies that have always felt so natural (this is important), his bitter songs about painting the light. Something about them, I knew I could do it…
In a subsequent interview with The Quietus, Bejar expanded on the EP’s musical range and emotional intentions:
“I guess I wanted to step outside of myself for a little while. I wanted to see if I could sing other people’s songs. But in English I’ve had a very hard time of it, I don’t know why. I wanted to make music that was relatively straightforward in its intent, I think that was behind most of these interpretations. It was all made very quickly, just enjoying the act of making music, messing around in the studio, not labouring over decisions, going in and walking out with a little record after a couple weeks. The antithesis of Kaputt. Which is probably why the EP is all over the place. A couple of the songs reflect where my mind’s been in music for a while, like ‘Babieca’ and ‘Del Monton’; maybe my mind’s already drifted from that place. It’s prone to do doing that. I chose these songs specifically cause Luque is one of my favourite songwriters and I have listened to his music so much that I knew the learning curve of being able to sing them in Spanish wouldn’t be too brutal. For some reason I always find myself singing along to his music, which is a rarity for me. Something about it, even though I don’t always know what he’s saying…”
Pre-orders for the EP are ongoing.
