The Twelfth Hour, the debut album of Dublin/Chicago electro-indie duo Duo Decad, was created across expanses of ocean between former Able Archer and Fuzzy Empire front man Emmet McCaughey’s home studio in Dublin and lyricist/musician Mark Casey’s Chicago flat. It’s a mind-boggling journey through genre, hopping from the likes of traditional indie-pop clichés and the laid-back production of lo-fi bedroom hip-hop.
Opener Lay It On Me, is a stomping introduction to the pair reminiscent of AM-era Arctic Monkeys, which explores the distortive power of love and its ability to break even the most independent of minds. From there, Snow of 82 and Statica slow the pace right down, the airy production leaving plenty of space for the emotion to sit.
These moments of peace are contrasted gorgeously with roaring tracks such as The Road and I, A Little Bit of Love and closer Broken Town. These moments of brightness act as the highlights of the album as a whole; showcasing the band’s clear musical talent whilst not relying on McCaughey’s impressive yet sometimes overly tender vocals.
As a whole, The Twelfth Hour has achieved all it set out to do and some. It showcased both McCaughey and Casey’s talents as creators across genres whilst also teasing a number of potential avenues for future expansion. Duo Decad, now a trio following mixing engineer Andy Glass’s introduction to the group, have a lot going for them, and this debut is a flourishing opening chapter in what seems to be a beautiful tale of musical synergy across the continents.
Duo-Decad – The Twelfth Hour
[Casing Point Records]
Words: Cailean Coffey
