Troy Kingi: Year of the Ratbags and Their Musty Theme Songs (digital outlets)

The sixth installment of Kingi's self-imposed 10.10.10 project (10 albums in 10 genres in 10 years) finds the musical polymath – again co-writing with Delaney Davidson on the banging single Paparazzo -- alighting on the 80s for songs which owe as much to the decade's jittery pop (Age is Just Numerical), upbeat ballads (A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing) and dreamy soundtracks (Authenticity which asks “are you an imitator or an emulator?”) as flashy synth-pop.

Unlike his soul outing The Ghost of Freddie Cesar which referenced Curtis Mayfield, the Chi-lites, Marvin Gaye and others, some of these songs aren't as clearly grounded in specific artists. Rather the 12 songs evoke that diverse decade with hints of slick soul-pop, Prince, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.

Busy lyrics, a sometimes abstruse storyline about fame punctuated by musical quotes with a few in-jokes and an archetypal 80s sax solo on Authenticity.

A big sound designed for, dare we say it, dance hall days?

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For more on Troy Kingi and his on-going project go here.