Technically a debut album but only in the strictest sense,
Secret Republic
is the first album to be released by songwriter/multi-instrumentalist
Ian Daniel Kehoe
under his own name. Before that, he played (and wrote) in bands such as
Attack in Black
before starting the solo project
Marine Dreams
in 2011. After releasing four albums under the moniker, he spent much of the second half of the decade as a touring drummer for fellow alternative singer/songwriters including
Andy Shauf
,
Julia Jacklin
, and
the Weather Station
(
Tamara Lindeman
). On
Kehoe
settles into a mix of yearning '80s pop and home-recorded (analog) synth pop inspirations. Accordingly, with the exception of limited harmony vocals by
Lindeman
, the album was performed and recorded entirely by
in his home studio. A set of danceable mid-tempo tunes, it favors love songs and break-up ruminations over dance anthems, exemplified by the subtly funky, tinny "Crying Again" and the "Last Christmas"-esque ballad "It's Hard (Livin' Without You Girl)." Quirkier, livelier selections include the murky "Evil People" ("You'd better look inside/'Cause that's where evil lies") and the sparkling "What's a Liar Know Anyway." Without duplicating it, the latter is remindful of
Prince
's "When You Were Mine" (particularly the
Cyndi Lauper
version). While the album's occasionally humorous lyrics and frequent tear-stained reflections over steady beats and spongy synths provide an ironic undertone,
's appreciation for the cheesier spectrum of '80s pop timbres is certainly genuine. The record closes with an instrumental "Interlude," seeming to promise more to come. ~ Marcy Donelson