His home-recorded lo-fi synth pop experiments and danceable pop songs made during 2010-2011 were collected and released by Arbutus Records in 2011 as II. The album featured guest vocals from labelmate Clare Boucher (aka Grimes) on a handful of tracks. In 2012 Welsh teamed with instrumentalist Matthew Otto to make Majical Cloudz a duo, and their sound expanded as well; the songs were built on expansive synths and understated rhythms, with Welsh's improved vocals and dramatic lyrics as the focal point. Their first record as a duo, the Turns Turns Turns EP, was released by Arbutus in late 2012, and the far more minimal-sounding full-length Impersonator surfaced in 2013 on American indie label Matador. The album was a critical success, garnering praise from a wide range of publications and earning the band a nomination for the 2013 Polaris Prize. It also caught the ear of pop sensation Lorde, who invited the band to open on her 2014 North American tour. When their stint was complete, the duo released a Neil Corcoran-directed documentary, A Lot of Humans, for which they provided the soundtrack. All the while Welsh and Otto were working on the songs for the duo's second album, and the result was the equally plaintive Are You Alone?, which was released by Matador in October of 2015. ~ Tim Sendra