I Could See A Lot Of Things

Deerhunter “All the Same”

Deerhunter’s Fading Frontier feels like coming out of a very dark part of your life and appreciating that the worst is over, but not quite knowing where that leaves you in the moment. You’re not all better, you’re still working on taking care of yourself, and peace isn’t the same as happiness. “All the Same” opens the record and sounds like the winter gradually shifting into spring; there’s something in the chords that implies brightness with a slight chill, and something in the rhythm that feels tentative and cautious. The lyrics are all about a shift in perspective, or a shift in expectations – realizing some things don’t matter to you anymore, observing change in other people, figuring out that your weaknesses can become strengths. The song is all liminal space, and it hinges on knowing that things are changing but having no idea where it’s all headed. A lot of Deerhunter’s music in the past has been about similarly passive states, but I think this time around, it’s a little more optimistic. Just not a lot more.

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