Album Review: Jason Lytle - Dept. Of Disappearance

The second solo album from former Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle, Dept. Of Disappearance, is dropping just as he's reassembled the old band for the first time in many years, but don't think that he'll be putting this solo career on ice any time soon. Lytle was pretty much singlehandedly responsible for the studio output of his old band anyway, so this new album and its predecessor (2009's Yours Truly, The Commuter) are basically a continuation of the cosmic indie that he's been making for years.

The subtle grandeur of Dept. Of Disappearance was concocted by Lytle whilst secluded in his home studio in his adopted home of Montana, and the rugged, mountainous terrain of that area is a feature of both the lyrics and the album's artwork, but framed in terms of isolation and desolation rather than beauty. On the opening title track Lytle intones, “I'll crawl into the mountains, I'll fall into obscurity/A phantom on the landscape, a memory of what used to be,” yet somehow making this seem completely calming, his voice and music combining into a smooth salve. Elsewhere, Young Saints is an examination of mortality, the slightly morbid Your Final Setting Sun finds a killer taunting his victim, and the reserved optimism of Get Up And Go is a ruse, covering some sinister overtones.

As the final notes of epic closer, Gimme Click Gimme Grid, ring out, it becomes clear that Lytle has done it again, making analogue synths sound organic and slightly bleak tales of isolation seem palatable. Who cares whether he's making this beautiful music under his own name or that of his band, as long as he's making it.