(Mistletone)

Baltimore’s electro-luminary Dan Deacon is back, with his second full-length Bromst in one hand, and an interminable desire to force your limbs into rhythmic action in the other. Just like a Dan Deacon live show, Bromst is its own miniature party … a party full of dinosaurs that glow in the dark, flying unicorns and rainbow-coloured crayons. 2007’s Spiderman Of The Rings started with a Woody Woodpecker sample; Bromst kicks off in a similar fashion, but this time it’s Deacon’s own voice laying down the sonic foundations, in a track justifiably named Build Voice. Bromst is more mature, more focused and more sophisticated than Spiderman, but Deacon has sacrificed nothing of his sound for those gains. None of the album’s eleven tracks are shorter than four minutes, Deacon allowing himself plenty of space to flesh out his compositions – something he’s very good at. Snookered begins slowly with xylophone and keyboard as textured waves of vocals come and go. A paranoia-inflected verse is repeated throughout, and each time it does the song gains a little more steam, an additional percussion layer or pulsing synth. Its second half incorporates a sharply produced platform of vocal samples, and the verse soon returns to bring all the elements together. The two tracks that follow it are similar in length and structure but manage to avoid terrain already explored. An alarmingly beautiful vocal experiment arrives in Wet Wings, while Red F and Padding Ghost dwell on Deacon’s shorter and sharper side, sugarcoated punches to the face. Bromst’s production is spot on and every element locks together, sharp and bright. There’s so much to hear and hold onto in Bromst that to listen the whole way through can be a tiring exercise... but it’s that kind of giddy tiredness you get when you’ve had a really great time.

****½

MICHAEL PINCOTT

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