DUCKS! & Co. Strange Endeavour EP
DUCKS! Strange Endeavour is available on Bandcamp, Deezer, Apple Music
by Walter Price
Being a fan of Berlin groove machine DUCKS! for some time now, I can honestly say that their new collaborative 4-track EP, ‘Strange Endeavour’, is likely their hauntingly best.
In a Facebook post dated 1 March 2024, they shared the set’s supernatural origin story, “5 years ago, we went to Denmark to play @trekantfest, and found ourselves staying with Tim and Rachel in a big old farmhouse, which was very nice, but also very haunted. Inspired by this spooky mood, we collaborated with our new friends on some living room experiments in sound, combining tape loops, piano drones, and kitchen percussion with Rachel’s violin and Tim’s fingerstyle guitar playing. Over the next few years, we turned our paranormal investigations into songs; and now they’re ready for you to hear wherever you like to hear things.”
The “Tim and Rachel” the DUCKS!’ Lani and Craig speak of are Tim McMillan and Rachel Snow. Their contributions and whatever was lurking about in the shadows of that farmhouse added tremendously to the 4 atmospheric chill-pop vignettes. And dare I say, that this EP has some familiar late-night loungy vibes but a couple of the tracks could be commercial radio friendly. I hope this last thought doesn’t dent their underground sheen.
Not to mention some of the best songwriting in the disco duo’s catalog. Take for instance the closing track (arguably my fave on the set), “We Are Sound”, you can feel the flickers of shadows in the lines, “These are sounds of nights we spent/ They’re frozen sounds of perfect moments/ Sounds of people passing through/ And leaving all their traces in the space…/It’s all so present!/ I have found/ You are sound, we are sound…”. Told in a whispery lulliby delivery set to layers of lurking voices and sounds, this verse could be a calling card for the whole of ‘Strange Endeavour’, full stop.
If you’re a fan of gorgeous electronica, surprises in the production, and what goes bump in the night, stream ‘Strange Endeavour’ in full, here at the GTC.
DUCKS!, TIM McMILLAN, RACHEL SNOW Strange Endeavour
DUCKS! photo by Aloha Burns // Lyrics via Bandcamp
Tim McMillan – guitar
Rachel Snow – violin
Lani Bagley – vocals, bass guitar
Craig Schuftan – beats, synths, tape loops
Mastered by Fredrik Kinbom at Madame Vega’s Boudoir
Artwork by Tania Mason
DUCKS! // Rachel Snow // Tim McMillan
Sailing for a never
Going nowhere slow
It’s a liquid affair
Tell no one where you’re going...