Breakup Song

A Deerhoof album is usually a brain-twisting, ear-tickling exercise, and Breakup Song is no exception. What’s a bit different is the songs' emphasis on love and its complications. Deerhoof’s take on matters of the heart is sweetly sincere (if typically skewed), as singer Satomi Matsuzaki hints at foiled passions and blossoming crushes beneath her dreamy demeanor. As always, her vocals are framed by angular rhythmic patterns and fractured melodies that keep listeners pleasantly off-balance. Tunes like “Fete D’Adieu” use Greg Saunier’s minimalist beat to create a contemplative mood; others, like the Latin-inflected “The Trouble with Candyhands” or the choppy “We Do Parties,” invoke unstable emotions with astringent sounds. The experimental impulses that were present at the band’s inception are still evident, heard in the brisk synth fizz of “Bad Kids to the Front,” the singsong robot funk of “Flower," and the clattering electronica of “Mario’s Flaming Whiskers III.” The breezy “To Fly or Not to Fly” and “Mothball the Fleet” skirt the pop mainstream, reinforcing the accessible yet ever-subversive essence of this playful, ingenious, and surprisingly warm-hearted work.