Sunken Foal – Fallen Arches

Sunken Foal
Fallen Arches
Planet Mu

Fallen Arches is the new album from Sunken Foal, aka Dublin producer Duncan Murphy from the duo Ambulance. The first time I heard Sunken Foal he was supporting Plaid, which is a pretty good indicator of the type of sound that he evokes when you first listen to him on this album. Unlike his work with Ambulance, this album sees him explore a more organic sound. Acoustic guitars and domineering pianos take the place of overpowering electronics.

Like Plaid, he weaves in some atonal melodies but he does it in such a way that it retains its warmth, something which can be lost with seemingly aimless sounds. Instead he adorns his tracks with oriental tones and echoing vocals making tracks like “A Bear in the Hermitage” sound like “Moonlight Sonata” played out as hollow twinkles on a music box. This album is for fans of the more acoustic side of electronic music. Sunken Foal shares his affinity for unusual instrumentation with artists like Colleen, while his take on the electronic side veers more towards the more expressive sound of Chris Clark. This is a good thing.