After Postepski departure, Toronto’s Trust continues as Robert Alfons solo act

TORONTO – Two years ago, Trust’s Robert Alfons both released the Toronto electro-goth duo’s debut “TRST” and promptly became a solo act with the departure of founding member Maya Postepski.

Although he says now he wasn’t surprised by Postepski leaving the band to focus on her role in Austra, the timing nonetheless seemed inopportune. Trust had introduced itself to acclaim — including a Juno Award nomination and positive notices from Pitchfork, NME and the Guardian —and the task of crafting a worthy follow-up now fell to Alfons alone.

But Alfons insists the experience of making the just-released “Joyland” wasn’t drastically different from making the first album.

“There’s definitely an added spotlight of sorts,” he acknowledged in a recent phone interview. “The hardest part about not having a collaborator is you just have to edit your own work and you have to be really firm about what direction to go. I think that’s the biggest change.

“(But) I always question myself. Constantly. It’s good. It keeps me humble. It makes the work I end up doing more thought out and I’m not just throwing ideas out.”

Even if the creative process was only a “little different” for Alfons, the resultant record switches things up with a bit more dramatic flair.

Mostly, Alfons has opened the blinds. Where “TRST” was resolutely gloomy — as if filtered in stylish monochrome — “Joyland” finds Alfons brightening the corners.

The neon synths of “Geryon,” euphoric chorus of highlight “Capitol” or galloping verses in “Peer Pressure” might have all sounded out of place on Trust’s unwaveringly focused debut, and in fact some songs — like the sugary title track — were written before that album came out, but Alfons knew they wouldn’t fit.

“This record is a lot more playful,” he agreed. “I felt allowed to do those sort of things.”

“There’s certain ideas I didn’t allow myself to discover on the first time, to indulge myself in,” he added.

He similarly felt free to continue to push the already prodigious range of his unique voice, capable of seguing from the alien falsetto of the title track to the flinty monotone murmuring over “Geryon.”

The production sounds richer too, an element Alfons simply credits to experience. As a listener, he delved deeply into acid house the last couple years and discovered production elements “that I die for,” he notes.

Even though he’s quietly confident about the new material, he muses on whether fans will follow the new direction.

“I just think there’s a certain vibe to that first record and there were many assumptions about how the record was going to be the second time around,” he said.

“I think I tried new things. I think some of it sounds different. That’s confusing for people.”

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