While the members supporting David Nicholas in Sansyou are different ones than on earlier releases, the guitarist is still using the trio to illustrate the difference between shoegaze and dream-pop. Like on their last offering, Sansyou pool their talents around Nicholas' evocative guitar-patterns, and True North Coast is another in a string of fine releases for that reason.
Opener "Prove a Point" imagines The Durutti Column covering a Clientele number. If this was a shoegaze band, things would dissove in a wash of feedback. Instead, Nicholas and crew wisely find the generous hook, and ornament it with a series of flourishes. Elsewhere, "Will I Dream?" is more languid, with a New Order circa 1986-vibe about it. Things unfurl and expand outward, with the central guitar notes plotting a deliberate path through the rhythmic underbrush. The title cut is more energetic still, while "Cycle of Life" seems quite in debt to "Driver 8", and that's a good compliment, I think. A remix of "Will I Dream?" doesn't add much to the overall effect of True North Coast, but the other numbers here on this EP remind how quietly and modestly inventive David Nicholas is as a guitar player.
True North Coast is out today.
[Photo of David Nicholas of Sansyou by me]