Following the mysterious appearance of a countdown clock on the band’s website fans were left salivating at the prospect of a new Deerhunter album, and on Sunday evening weren’t left disappointed. The band’s seventh album was written in their hometown of Atlanta where they once again shared production duties with Ben H. Allen III, who has been working with band since 2010’s Halcyon Digest.
As our introduction to the album, the funk-enthused ‘Snakeskin’ marks a move away from 2013’s Monomania where scratching, distorted garage rock cuts were the prevailing norm. On Fading Frontier Deerhunter has focused on smoother melodies and more intricate textures, made vibrant and impactful by brighter production.
For the first time Cox and Pundt share the lead vocal duties on ‘Breaker’, while ‘Ad Astra’ sees the band once again expand its sound to incorporate a synth-diffused track. Compounding the anticipation surrounding the album’s release is the announcement that both James Cargill of Broadcast and Tim Gane of Stereolab each feature on a track.
Fading Frontier will be available October 16 on 4AD / Remote Control Records.
