"There are two different elements with the Faunts," Paul Arnusch states. "One: we write to record. Two: we write to play live."

Bandmate Tim Batke picks up Arnusch’s thread. "Usually, we write songs for the sake of the song and figure it out later, what to do in the studio and what to do live. This was not harder, but completely different. It was also different scoring just film to scoring live film. I don’t want to say ‘background’ for film. It was more collaborative than that."

"The visual aesthetic created the mood, and we tried to write music that complimented that mood," says Arnusch.

Last summer, the Faunts took part in Cinematic Sounds, a program with FAVA (Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta). The idea of the event was to have indie bands choose short films by FAVA members, score them, and play the scores live.

Arnusch explains, "We have a lot of music we want to release. We condensed some of that back catalogue into this EP. It became an entity unto its own."

The album is named M4, after the film, and two versions of that moody, proggy score are on the record.

"The EP includes some originals that we reworked, plus a new track. We just went through and chose what fit together," Batke adds.

M4–"It’s 40 minutes," Arnusch observes. "Calling it an EP is kind of misleading"–is an elaboration of some of the more grandiose, evocative rock from the Faunts’ debut, High Expectations/Low Results.

"Our first album was purposefully eclectic–‘this is what we can do.’ M4 is a lot more focused," Arnush explains. "Then I guess we had to put things on hold for a while. As far as the world outside Edmonton is concerned, we put out our first album last October. In Edmonton, it had been out for five years. We hope fans aren’t bored or frustrated. We hope they stuck with us."

The re-release of their debut was mid-wifed by New York City’s Friendly Fire Recordings. Though the Faunts are still with the label, they’re releasing M4 themselves. Arnusch clarifies, "We still get to use their infrastructure, so that’s good. We’re hoping to release another album with them next year."

They list the differences between the recordings. "The EP we wrote more as a band. The first one we worked on pieces individually and would finish them with the band. We added more keyboards, more guitar, less drum kit, more drum machine."

The album is dense and enigmatic, and suggests an ’80s noir thriller shot at night in the rain, like some slower Junior Boys pieces.

M4 also encapsulates the last bit of work the band did with Joel Hitchcock, who has upped sticks to Victoria to pursue his education in homeopathy.

Arnusch says, "Joel is a big part of M4. Every album is kind of like a chapter. This is a way to clean up, finish that chapter with Joel."

After Hitchcock’s departure, Rob Batke joined brothers Tim and Steven, making Arnusch the only non-Batke in the band.

"Now we’re trying to be more Hanson," deadpans Tim Batke.

The Faunts have a reputation for being a bit of a brainiac band, yet their collective dry and slightly absurdist humour permeates the conversation, an easygoing, ambling affair. When asked about their ambitions for the album, Batke quips, "What’s platinum in Canada? 100?"

What they are really looking forward to is the chance to set M4 loose in a live setting. The short films that inspired the album will be played at the release, and they’ll let loose a whole schwack of novel instruments–trumpet, baritone saxophone, laptop, Theremin.

"Everyone has to play everything all the time. That’s our rule," adds Batke. "That’s one way to keep us broad and give ourselves lots of room to move."