Christopher Duncan, who performs as C Duncan, is a Scottish composer and multi-instrumentalist whose classical music upbringing seeps into his sophisticated, billowy indie pop creations. Emerging in 2015 with the Mercury Prize-nominated Architect, his lush bedroom pop became more expansive and elaborately produced on subsequent outings like Health (2019) and Alluvium (2022).
Raised in Glasgow by two classical musicians, Duncan studied piano and viola before taking up guitar, bass, and drums in his teens, eventually studying music composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Assembling his songs one instrument at a time in a home studio, he submitted a demo to FatCat Records, which signed the young craftsman in 2013. His first single, the sublime “For,” was released late the following year, and his artful debut album, Architect, arrived in the summer of 2015, receiving a Mercury Prize nomination. Duncan moved quickly on his follow-up, releasing The Midnight Sun in October 2016. Its title comes from an episode of the early-’60s sci-fi anthology series The Twilight Zone which also informed the tone and sequence of the album. Like his debut, it made a Top Ten showing on the U.K. Indie charts. Changing tack, Duncan worked with producer Craig Potter (Elbow) to create his more sonically varied and deeply personal third album, 2019’s Health. It would be his last outing for FatCat, and in 2021 Duncan announced he’d joined Bella Union’s roster.
His first release for the label was 2022’s hopeful and radiant Alluvium, an album he again produced and recorded on his own. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi
