At the height of the winter season, Fort Wayne’s Roman New Time has returned with his latest effort, successfully mixing the fun with the melancholy.

Between going to school, drumming for Namen Namen, and serving as half of Home Phone, Ron Record found time for solo efforts, with this one following last year’s Your Voice As a Cymbal.

As he’s done on previous efforts, Roman New Time uses a world of sound, sampling voice records, an owl, and more, combining them into something cohesive. It’s epitomized on opener “Gnawing” with him singing over a simple guitar and bops and beeps chiming in throughout.

“We Got It Made” follows with a simple keyboard laying the foundation as guitar, samples, and other creative sounds pop up prior to catchy chorus. It’s sure to get fans singing along during his one-of-a-kind shows, the same of which can be said for “Watch the Rents.”

Darkness looms on “Should Not Have Told,” which opens with “I’m so depressed, I don’t know what I’m doing,” followed by intense beats that trail off. “Fort Wayne Land” is another gem, with an organ setting the baseline, and multiple listens unearthing more and more instrumentation. Although it’s a great song, the city might pass on changing its slogan to, “In Fort Wayne we wait to die.”

“IM Twentytwo” would make for a great show opener. Record gets behind the kit and puts those on skills on display before things calm down on “Trichotillomania” and “Hide (Pump That Jam).” The album’s namesake, “I Love Duncan” features Record using a vocal echo effect over a guitar riff, while a repeating bass line punctuates throughout.

Perhaps my favorite track on the record closes things out with “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime,” as he pleads for people to “Change your heart” before a haunting organ-led chorus comes through with the simple message, “Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime.”

As he’s done before, Roman New Time successfully melds a world of sound with brutally honest lyrics.