Technically a debut album but only in the strictest sense, Secret Republic is the first album to be released by songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ian Daniel Kehoe under his own name. Before that, he played (and wrote) in bands such as Attack in Black before starting the solo project Marine Dreams in 2011. After releasing four albums under the moniker, he spent much of the second half of the decade as a touring drummer for fellow alternative singer/songwriters including Andy Shauf, Julia Jacklin, and the Weather Station (Tamara Lindeman). On Secret Republic, Kehoe settles into a mix of yearning '80s pop and home-recorded (analog) synth pop inspirations. Accordingly, with the exception of limited harmony vocals by Lindeman, the album was performed and recorded entirely by Kehoe in his home studio. A set of danceable mid-tempo tunes, it favors love songs and break-up ruminations over dance anthems, exemplified by the subtly funky, tinny "Crying Again" and the "Last Christmas"-esque ballad "It's Hard (Livin' Without You Girl)." Quirkier, livelier selections include the murky "Evil People" ("You'd better look inside/'Cause that's where evil lies") and the sparkling "What's a Liar Know Anyway." Without duplicating it, the latter is remindful of Prince's "When You Were Mine" (particularly the Cyndi Lauper version). While the album's occasionally humorous lyrics and frequent tear-stained reflections over steady beats and spongy synths provide an ironic undertone, Kehoe's appreciation for the cheesier spectrum of '80s pop timbres is certainly genuine. The record closes with an instrumental "Interlude," seeming to promise more to come.