Coming four years after Feel.Love.Thinking.Of., Duplekita's The Sound of My Name does not represent a radical re-invention for Faunts co-founder Tim Batke, but it marks a very promising rebirth for the Edmonton musician. While Faunts' flirtation with 1980s-style electronics very much remains one of the cornerstones of Duplekita's sound, The Sound of My Name moves seamlessly between dreamy, danceable pop (upbeat opener "Holiday" brings to mind Tango in the Night-era Fleetwood Mac), warm, inviting folktronica ("Roots of A Mountain") and lush, cinematic interludes (the uplifting, visceral "LAMB" and "Hand it to the Kids," which falls somewhere between Jan Hammer's Miami Vice score and Phoenix circa United).
Despite contributions from more than 20 musicians (including Batke's brother and Faunts leader Steven) — and up to 14 on any given song — The Sound of My Name's elaborate arrangements never sound cluttered, each layer of clanking percussion, multi-tracked handclaps, vocodered vocals, distorted guitars or synthesizer textures adding another crucial piece to the songs' melodic puzzles. That Batke successfully ties those disparate elements together is also a testament to his remarkable pop acumen, most conspicuously on the striking, soaring title track or album highlight "One-Nine-Eight-Six," an achingly pretty nocturnal ballad in search of a John Hughes soundtrack.
(Kinsella)Despite contributions from more than 20 musicians (including Batke's brother and Faunts leader Steven) — and up to 14 on any given song — The Sound of My Name's elaborate arrangements never sound cluttered, each layer of clanking percussion, multi-tracked handclaps, vocodered vocals, distorted guitars or synthesizer textures adding another crucial piece to the songs' melodic puzzles. That Batke successfully ties those disparate elements together is also a testament to his remarkable pop acumen, most conspicuously on the striking, soaring title track or album highlight "One-Nine-Eight-Six," an achingly pretty nocturnal ballad in search of a John Hughes soundtrack.
