Deerhunter – Fading Frontier

Two tracks into Faded Frontier and Deerhunter's Bradford Cox makes his intentions clear. 'I'm out of range,' he sighs over a looping refrain which reiterates, 'I'm living my life.' Gone is the artist who played an hour-long My Sharona in protest at a heckler, so too is the wig-wearing Connie Lungpin character who surfaced on 2013's Monomania campaign.

That record's abrasive protopunk felt like a culmination of frustration with, among other things, his body's ongoing battle with marfan syndrom and his sexuality; Faded Frontier in contrast is a slow release and a desire for solitude. The Broadcast-doffing opener All The Same (James Cargill also appears on Take Care) mentions a friend's dad changing his sex to find solace; Leather and Wood's skeletal piano meanders through a yawning, empty chasm; even the bright, funk-filled Snakeskin lets things go: "I lost my marbles all over the pink, pink cage," Cox laments over a cocksure strut, doing as he always has, looking back to progress.