Dirty Projectors Lamp Lit Prose

"I don't know how I'm gonna be a better man/I don't know how I'm gonna reach the promised land/I don't know how I'm gonna get you to take my hand/But I'm gonna start and I know when." With these words in the first track on Dirty Projectors' 2018 release Lamp Lit Prose, David Longstreth (the group's leader and solo constant member) shares the good news: he's feeling better now. On 2017's self-titled Dirty Projectors, Longstreth was reeling from a tough romantic breakup, and a dark mood dominated the material, as well as a greater reliance on electronics and vocal manipulation. The cooler textures and digital sheen of that album certainly informs Lamp Lit Prose, but this time out the music has a much more organic feel, with natural horns, guitars, strings, and percussion dancing within the electronic frameworks. There's a palpable joy in this music that hasn't been so strong in Longstreth's work since 2009's breakthrough Bitte Orca, and while it never turns sappy, Lamp Lit Prose speaks o