TR/ST - The Destroyer – 1

It happens when you have great determination and a strong belief in your own abilities. That's when you get fed up. You look squarely at what didn't work. You face the problem. And maybe you even do a bit of self-criticism. You're smart. You know what you're doing and you understand that this is an important record. This time you can't get it wrong. If you mess this one up, it's all over. So you take your time. Five years, to be precise. Since that second album which, let's be honest, wasn't actually that bad. But it was clearly guilty of being the follow-up to that debut that had people shouting miracle, eventually becoming almost iconic. Maybe a bit too much self-assurance? Could be.

Robert Alfons must certainly have said these things to himself. He stopped and brooded for a long time over what his next moves should be. He brought back Maya Postepski (Austra), one of the key figures of that magical first album, who however hadn't taken part in the second one, "Joyland".

Then the songs. Alfons understood he had to go back to those. Focus again on what had been the winning key. The songs. Everything else would follow from that. His way of delivering them. That voice and that very strange intonation. Almost sinister. With a genuinely original and unusual sense of harmony. But you have to actually have the songs.

That's how you get your head back into the work. You recover your identity, or at least the spirit you had when you started out. And sure, some certainties have faded. So you have to test the waters. Figure out if the direction is right. If you're doing things properly. So what do you do? You put out a few singles first. Well in advance. You need to understand whether the album you're making is the right one. Two years ago "Bicep" came out, followed by three more tracks. And the reactions are reassuring.

Yes, Robert. People like it. The reactions are the ones you wanted. Keep going like this. So we arrive at the third album. Finally. The moment of truth. Five years after the previous one.

Mission accomplished? Yes. Alfons re-emerges with strength and pride, proving that his project is one of the most unique and original ever heard in dark-synth over the past decade. He does it with newfound maturity, because "Joyland" shouldn't be written off. It's all knowledge that gives an even more mature structure to a record that, inevitably, looks more toward what the debut was.

"Gone", "Unbleached", "Bicep" and "Grouch" are stand-out tracks, where you'll find the best of the entire Tr/st universe. Production and compressed kick drums. Electronics that are unsettling yet also irresistible from an alternative club perspective. And then the melodic lines.

Much of the focus tends to fall on Alfons's very distinctive timbre. And that's true. But it's actually the sense of harmony, dissonant, unexpected, that does most of the work.

The irresistible refrain of "Grouch" represents its absolute peak. And that doesn't mean distortions and explorations beyond strict song-form are abandoned. "Poorly Coward" is a brilliant example of this: dissonant sounds, industrial touches and inspired arrangements.

It all closes out with two electronic ballads. "Control Me" and "Wake With" stand out for the quality of their songwriting, opening up a much broader horizon for the Tr/st project, one where the dark-club remit might start to feel too narrow. Romantic melodies and synths bring this more-than-convincing comeback to a close, not without emotion.

And it doesn't end here. There will be a part 2 to this record, as the title suggests.

Tr/st is no longer a novelty, so it's quite possible that reactions to this album won't match those that greeted the already much-discussed debut. But this is a top-tier record. That's what happens when you're a smart artist.

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11/05/2019