Duncan Pelletier Winks at Existential Dread with Gone Soon LP - (3/24/2021)
New England-based singer/songwriter Duncan Pelletier shares his Gone Soon LP via Trailing Twelve Records.
After twenty years of providing songs for various band projects, artists, stage plays, and films, New England-based singer/songwriter Duncan Pelletier releases his debut solo album “Gone Soon” on March 24th, 2021 via Trailing Twelve Records. Pelletier’s debut effort is an exercise in processing the past, learning from moments of regret, and navigating the minutiae of stagnation. “Gone Soon” manages to explore the feelings of existential dread with a wink. When you peel back the layers, these feel-good hits are full of despair. That special kind of sadness that we can’t get enough of.
The making of Gone Soon began at the tail end of a job that was driving Pelletier to his limits. “I was second-guessing most of my life choices. Most of the songs just kind of fell out during that period,” says Pelletier. During the Spring of 2020, he found himself quarantining in his Portland, ME with copious demos and considerably more time on his hands. Like something out of a sitcom, Pelletier recruited his upstairs neighbor, Ned Rich - a Portland-based musician and mixing engineer, to help him finish the songs. “I’d send him as complete a song as I could perform and record myself, and he’d take it to the next level. Couldn’t have done it without him!”
As we enter Gone Soon, we’re immediately greeted by “Better Off” - a blend of nostalgic funk, melancholy soul, and happy-sad pop. Something that could have been created during a Bill Withers Record Plant recording session. It’s in this opening track that we hear Pelletier contextualize the album’s title “behind your eager eyes / About the color of the moon / It’s clearer every moment you’ll be gone soon.”
As we move through the album, we find Pelletier flexing his vocal and musical range. “Rolldown” - a song about the act of songwriting - blends elements of jazz-rock and funk to support Pelletier’s soulful croon, while “Temptation” seduces the listener while shapeshifting between uplifting R&B and Minneapolis sound. Some of the album’s strongest moments are in its transitions - take “Lost and Found,” what begins as an intimate heart-on-sleeve acoustic ballad immediately flips midway into a panoramic pop spectacle a la-Phil Collins.
“Clear”, appropriately released as the album’s lead single, is a portrait of someone reflecting on a relationship (not necessarily a romantic one) in the distant past, and of assessing their stark reality afterward. It’s conveyed with a satisfying blend of R&B and soul that highlight Pelletier’s confident vocal. “To me, it pretty much summarizes the whole mood and theme of the record. Did this change me? Did it hurt me? Was anything my fault? Does it even matter?” says Pelletier.
Maybe it’s done, maybe we’re in the clear / Maybe we’ll never quite figure out what I’m still doing here
Pelletier adds “there’s a lot of self-pity in it, and a lot of ambivalence too. I think those are two classic ways to avoid facing your consequences, so this song highlights a sad way of thinking, which I think everyone has experienced at some point.”
Serving as a thirty-three-minute snapshot of someone struggling with adaptation, Pelletier’s debut record is full of dynamic musicality, vulnerable themes, and deeply satisfying songwriting - a meticulously crafted celebration of soul, funk, pop, and self-reflection.
“Gone Soon” will be available on March 24th via Trailing Twelve.
Gone Soon Tracklist:
Better Off
Famous Last Words
Rolldown
Close Call
Clear
The Fall
Take Me
Temptation
Lost And Found
Nonbeliever
All Songs Written & Performed by Duncan Pelletier (BMI)
Duncan Pelletier – Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitars, Ukulele, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion, Drum Programming
Ned Rich – Electric Guitar, Drum Programming
Jonah Bruce – Tenor Sax, Congas (Rolldown)
Garrett Cameron – Alto Sax (Rolldown)
Geoffrey DeBree – Alto Sax (Temptation)
Jon Abrams – Keyboards (Take Me, Temptation)
Chris Reilly - Bass (Take Me)
TTR011
© & ℗ 2021 Trailing Twelve Records. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized Copying, Reproduction, Hiring, Lending, Public Performance, And Broadcasting Strictly Prohibited.
DUNCAN PELLETIER - Gone Soon
TTR011
Releases 24 March 2021
Length: 33:12
BIO
Maine-based singer/songwriter Duncan Pelletier has been making music for over a decade in various capacities. As a solo artist, studio musician, and live theater composer, Pelletier tactfully weaves together elements of soft rock, blue-eyed soul, and traditional pop, resulting in a sound that benefits from influence while feeling uniquely his own.