Ducktails’ Matthew Monandile unveiled a killer track, “Letter of Intent”, about a month ago. It’s another one I’m late to the party on, and for which I’ll blame the holidays one last time. Better late than never, this is fantastic effort that extends Monandile’s reverb-friendly lo-fi electro-pop/rock hybid to a more polished funk-tinged reincarnation. The leap forward is partly courtesy of collaborators Joel Ford and Daniel Lopatin, who contribute bass and synths, respectively. They’re of elctro-pop duo Ford & Loptain, previously known as Games. Stream their track “Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me)” below to get a feel for their vintage vein of thumping electro-pop.
Another prominent collaborator is Jessica Farkas, whose crisply angelic vocals are the perfect accompaniment to graceful synth arpeggios, whirring vocoders, and trickling guitar additives. The track practically glistens with beautifully arranged synths, which are continuously backed by an effervescent synth pad that floats like a cloud. It’s like the soundtrack to some fantasy world, where every breeze sets some elaborate wind chime composition in motion. Exceptionally easy to get lost in, “Letter of Intent” is one of my favorite tracks from 2013 thus far. My anticipation for Ducktails’ upcoming album, The Flower Lane, just grew quite a bit. On January 29th the wait will be over.
