Earlier this week, Trust's Robert Alfons released his sophomore album, Joyland, on Arts & Crafts, although this time without co-founder Maya Postepski, who left the group to focus on her other band, Austra.
"It was something that was years in the making, because from the start she was already involved with another project," Alfons tells Exclaim! "A lot of those songs on the first record were old songs of mine, so in a lot of ways it doesn't feel too different for me. I kinda had a clear vision of what I wanted from that first record and again for the second one."
A collection of throbbing beats and bombastic hooks that draw heavily from mainstream pop music, Joyland is a technicolour update on Trust's dark and brooding sound, something Alfons says comes from a real place.
"None of it's irony; for me it's real. Some of my favourite moments of my life are dancing at a club, and it could be what some person might consider a guilty pleasure, but I definitely lean towards emotional songs and melodies."
Although his music has become brighter and louder, Alfons' goth-inspired vocals remain, something he characterizes as just another instrument.
"Like any other sort of instrument, you sort of have to figure it out and work on it. I guess I've always been singing and wanted to challenge it, but maybe the fact that I can sing in a super high range is maybe something that's not going to happen in the next 20 years. Maybe it's going to change, and it has changed over the course of my life too, but it's just an instrument, and it's my favourite instrument I guess."
Joyland is out now. You can check out Trust's tour dates here and watch the video for first single "Rescue, Mister" below.
You can also read more of Exclaim!'s interview with Alfons here.
"It was something that was years in the making, because from the start she was already involved with another project," Alfons tells Exclaim! "A lot of those songs on the first record were old songs of mine, so in a lot of ways it doesn't feel too different for me. I kinda had a clear vision of what I wanted from that first record and again for the second one."
A collection of throbbing beats and bombastic hooks that draw heavily from mainstream pop music, Joyland is a technicolour update on Trust's dark and brooding sound, something Alfons says comes from a real place.
"None of it's irony; for me it's real. Some of my favourite moments of my life are dancing at a club, and it could be what some person might consider a guilty pleasure, but I definitely lean towards emotional songs and melodies."
Although his music has become brighter and louder, Alfons' goth-inspired vocals remain, something he characterizes as just another instrument.
"Like any other sort of instrument, you sort of have to figure it out and work on it. I guess I've always been singing and wanted to challenge it, but maybe the fact that I can sing in a super high range is maybe something that's not going to happen in the next 20 years. Maybe it's going to change, and it has changed over the course of my life too, but it's just an instrument, and it's my favourite instrument I guess."
Joyland is out now. You can check out Trust's tour dates here and watch the video for first single "Rescue, Mister" below.
You can also read more of Exclaim!'s interview with Alfons here.