Telepathe - Destroyer

Telepathe's second album, Destroyer, is finally here, and, while I was ready to be all snarky about how long it's taken to arrive, Busy Gangnes and Melissa Livaudais have been through enough bullshit without my adding to the pile: while the pair relocated from Brooklyn to LA and recorded the album in a matter of months back in 2012, industry/record label fuckery kept getting in the way of its release, so, they did it themselves on their own label, BZML. It never fails to amaze me how adept the music industry is at stopping musicians from making and releasing music. 

Destroyer is a much deeper, darker offering than their 2009 debut, Dance Mother. The entire album would be perfectly at home blasted at full volume in some blacklit, smoke-filled underground East Village club. The whole thing pulses and throbs with black sensuality, often tinged with semi-futuristic themes and some occasionally cultish lyrics. Every track has the uncanny feel of something from another time (either the 80s or 90s), but from that same club.* Standouts include the thunderous title track, the infinitely salacious pounding of 'Night Spell', the languid 90s hip hop vibe of 'Hyper Ho', and the ecstatic celebration of 'Onyx'. 

I can't put into words how excited I am that Gangnes and Livaudais found a way to get this out. Destroyer has been one of my most anticipated albums for the past three years and, while it's more than worth the wait, I'm hoping whatever is next from Telepathe will arrive sooner, unfettered, and even more brilliant than the last.   

*Like a dark, electronic, sexy, drum-machine fueled version of The Lake House.