Crucial Track for January 14, 2026

"Suicide Demo for Kara Walker" by Destroyer

#365songs (14 / 365)

One of the best Destroyer songs... and there are a lot of Destroyer songs. This one really takes its time working its way up from an easy listening vibe to some rambly Dan Bejar free-association, easing you in with three short solos and some ambience taking up a full two minutes before you ever hear a word out of Bejar's mouth. Nylon-string guitar. Piano. Flute!!! Destroyer used to be like 95% Bejar talking his shit but Kaputt really gives him room to breathe.

And the lyrics here are almost but not quite typical of Bejar. The overall mood is definitely classic Destroyer: he often sings, obliquely, about weird characters who don't really fit in, and he's doing that here, but I don't think he'd ever get away with a line like "harmless little negress, you got to say yes to another excess" if he hadn't written it in collaboration with the Black visual artist cited in the song's title. In my heart this is the most ambitious crossover event in history — well, let's say top 5 because I like that joke and can probably think of others — and what luck for all of us that the song that came out of it is so good. It's so good and so easy to listen to but the lyrics are confrontational and maybe some of the most daring in Destroyer's entire catalog. These eight and a half minutes just fly by!