Dirty Projectors – About to Die
Domino: 2012
The death of the music industry. The death of indie. The death of Brooklyn. All of these things have been lamented in serious tones recently on the web. And though Dave Longstreth, bandleader of Dirty Projectors, surely has a stake in all three of these premature eulogies, I highly doubt he pays any attention.
Instead, he holes up in a small hamlet in western New York—cutting some “70 ideas” and “40 finished demos.” Those would then become the wonderful Swing Lo Magellan and the recently released About to Die EP. This is how he deals with his own existential crises head on, through song.
The title track appears here as it did on the album, with it’s winking version of a deathbed moment of clarity. But things quickly turn serious and somber with “While You’re Here.” The track is a lovely, string-laden ode to the late Gerard Smith, the former multi-instrumentalist member of TV on the Radio and fellow Brooklynite. It’s a touching tribute and reason enough to check on this EP.
“Here Til It Says I’m Not”, “Simple Request”, and “Desire to Love” reprise much of what worked best on Swing Lo: confident, understated guitar work, sneaky-catchy choruses, and great singing. It’s easy to see the traces and eraser marks that would eventually make up the full-length.
The only significant speedbump is the penultimate “Buckle Up,” an angular, thrashing cut that feels much longer than its 1:47 runtime. Its spraypaint instrumentation stands in stark contrast to the lush brushstrokes found elsewhere.
Overall, the EP is an enjoyable epilogue to one of the year’s best records. And now with two excellent releases from Dirty Projectors in the books, I think it’s safe to say those “end of the world” proclamations were a little premature. Cosmically speaking, sure, we may be all about to die, but at least we get to dig some cool tunes in the process.
3.5 out of 5