- Duckett has been putting out the odd record since 2001, but recently his career has entered a fertile new phase. Last year there was a substantial double-EP on UntilMyHeartStops; Stories Of Data Loss, for another label in the Freerotation orbit, Galdoors, is his second record in 2016. You can hear him developing as he goes. On the double-EP, his trademark sound—a living, breathing kind of deep house touched with the surreal—is rendered in broad brush strokes. This release is more texturally delicate, and its gestures are smaller but defter. The bolder melodies of the recent Balsamic State EP are also absent—instead, there's an evasive quality to the sounds, as if they're ready to dart from view as soon as you turn to look at them.
The best track comes first. Most of "No Relation To Me"'s materials are in right from the start: the lightly swung groove, the rumpled chords that play against arp twinkles in the upper register, the judicious four-note bassline. But together these elements have a powerful hypnotism, and a few clusters of delay and another arp at the midpoint are enough to keep them fresh for seven minutes. From there, the EP takes a melancholy turn. "My Other Life On Earth Begins This Morning" is a delicate mosaic of frayed bleeps and bloops halfway between drum and tone. Over the top, a keys solo builds into romantic swirls in the breakdowns. On the wonderful "Everything Works Backwards," Duckett sculpts steel pan-like synths into dizzying cascades. "But My Mind" doesn't have the deceptive simplicity of the others. Its drums and ascending synth loop are easier to parse, but the way those synths start to lurch wildly upwards betrays Duckett's unusual, and unmistakable, touch.
TracklistA1 No Relation To Me
A2 My Other Life On Earth Begins This Morning
B1 Everything Works Backwards
B2 But My Mind