David Bazan’s new album, Blanco, only sounds like a departure. Though vintage synthesizers bathe the songs in a dreamy haze that recalls artists like M83 and Cliff Martinez, those textures surround familiar central figures: simple, perfect melodies sung by Bazan’s ringing bell of a voice, giving form to lyrics that unflinchingly dissect the dark corners of the inner life. Produced by longtime collaborator Yuuki Matthews (of Crystal Skulls), Blanco sounds like a distant descendant of Bazan’s 2005 Headphones project, in the same way an iPhone is a descendant of a Walkman.
Synths aside, it’s the same work he’s been doing since the first Pedro the Lion recordings came out in 1997, and with a renewed vigor (and more complex, better songs) since his solo debut in 2006. We’ve been friendly for several years, but I’ve been a devotee of his music for several more, so I didn’t feel too weird about inviting him to Stranger HQ to talk about his new direction…
