Dirty Projectors - Lamp Lit Prose

Artists have used the format of the "break-up album" as long as albums have existed. In the following decades, it's essentially just developed into a giant musical cliché. The lesser ones use sadness as a reference point to help shape an otherwise normally structured release. However, the great ones, albums whose artists truly suffered from their relationship's end, are completely enveloped by sorrow, altered in previously unimaginable ways within the scope of this musician. This was certainly the case with Dirty Projectors frontman David Longstreth, whose 2017 release entitled Dirty Projectors saw the band's music shift to digital darkness with a release unlike any previous work from the group. The loss of bandmate and long-term girlfriend Amber Coffman shifted his musical persona, but what is even more fascinating is what has followed. A year and a half later, Dirty Projectors has recaptured their sound by creating their most joyous yet experimental set of pop tunes since the avant-garde breakthrough of Bitte Orca (2009), and the resulting shift is as welcome as it is dramatic.

This conceptual change is not entirely new in the industry; in fact, it often seems that if a post-break-up album shows a one-eighty in musical mood and theme, then the post-post-break-up album tries to further top that one-eighty (so in other words, comes full circle). Recent memory shows many examples of this:

1. Björk's Vulnicura (2015) led to Utopia (2017), one of her most uplifting and healing albums to date, 
2. Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreak (2008) led to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), his most critically lauded album and a permanent fan favorite,
3. Bon Iver's classic For Emma, Forever Ago (2007) led to a polar opposite self-titled release in 2011,
4. Beck's Sea Change (2002) led to Guero (2005), his most classic "Beck" sounding album since Odelay (1996),
5. Björk (again) transitioned from cold and complex on Homogenic (1997) to intimate and elegant on Vespertine (2001)

Two of the most classic breakup albums, Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks (1975) and Joni Mitchell's Blue (1971), have their own iconic trajectory. Mitchell followed with the earnest but transitional For the Roses (1972) only to come back with her folk/jazz/pop masterpiece Court and Spark (1974); Dylan chose the other route and countered his unabashed intimacy with Desire (1976) his messiest but most intriguing release of the 70s or 80s. Everyone treats their "comeback" with different levels of focus and quality, but it is almost always completely different. 

Dirty Projectors (or, more accurately, David Longstreth) clearly tries to recall Bitte Orca with this new release. The sharp blue/red contrast on the album cover is an obvious sign, but it is clear from the music as well with the upbeat thrill of singles "Break-Thru" and "That's a Lifestyle". From minute one, Lamp Lit Prose marries accessibly sweet melodies with bracing electronics, challenging the listener just enough to keep them guessing but not so much as to turn them away. Whether on the standout tracks "Right Now" and "I Feel Energy" (with brilliant vocal arrangements featuring Syd of the Internet and Amber Mark) or even the more laid-back tracks like "What is the Time", Longstreth keeps you dancing, swaying, and feeling a lust for life. Even so, he keeps from pandering to audiences by utilizing nearly every moment to shake things up, resulting in a cornucopia of joy that sounds immediately like Dirty Projectors, something the self-titled album purposefully did not convey.

The band has always had a high standard of quality, so it is hard to say where this ranks in their discography. Personally, I think this is a crucial quality to the success of the band's music. Longstreth has allowed his music to evolve with his age and perspective, never feeling bogged down by a pressure to write "Dirty Projectors" style music. Instead, he writes for himself, and his fans could not be more thankful. The Domino albums have displayed a strong and exciting pathway for this project, and it's even more thrilling knowing one can only guess what will follow. For those like me who have signed on after hearing "Stillness is a Move", the future of Dirty Projectors looks continually bright.