I’m starting to think that Deerhunter frontman Bradford Cox’s songwriting “Never Stops.” With 25 tracks on Deerhunter’s recent releases Microcastle and Weird Era Cont., and constant uploads of songs onto the band’s blog, Cox has to be one of the most prolific and well-received artists around.  

But this kind of effort doesn’t usually come without some overlapping material. Although the five tracks on Rainwater could easily be added onto the end of their last album, the songs also showcase some unusual references, and a band that has far more to say than I previously thought. And that’s saying a lot.

The title track builds in typical Deerhunter fashion, but also has a Hawaiin feel and tango-esque bass line; they're two styles I know you’ve never heard together in the same song. Moses Archuleta’s drumming propels what is essentially a pop song drenched in reverb on the standout “Disappearing Ink,” and the sci-fi influenced theremin on “Famous Last Words” recalls the noise you’re used to hearing in black-and-white alien movies as a flying saucer floats through the atmosphere. On “Game of Diamonds”, the band trades in the trance-inducing hubbub of a previously recorded version for a simpler sound backed by tribal drums. The Rainwater version is sonically less intense. but just as effective.

Hawaii, Argentina, space and Africa!  Somehow, in one short record, the band has managed to take you with them on a trip around the world with Cox as the modern day Phineas Fogg. - Benjamin Evans