A touching, majestic gem of a record, 'Deserter's Songs' raises the bar not just for Mercury Rev themselves, but orchestrated pop in general. There's a timelessness to both the compositions and the arrangements here. Grand sonic visions are realized with horns, keyboards, strings, even a bowed saw! No matter how big the sound gets, though, it's all carefully controlled, and the cinematic scope enhances the songs, rather than obscuring them. Simple-but never blunt-lyrics benefit from an infectious melodicism that speaks to the pop songcraft skills Mercury Rev has mastered. The sweeping scale of 'Deserter's Songs' never denies the small, intimate pleasures that pop up from song to song, as the band combines psychedelia, '60s pop, Flaming Lips-ish indie rock and a homey folk-rock sound (the Band's Garth Hudson and Levon Helm even appear here) for a masterpiece of epic proportions.
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