‘True Bypass’ is the self titled debut album from Chantal Acda (who was previously with Sleepingdog and Chacda) and Craig Ward (The Love Substitutes and I H8 Camera.) They apparently met on an aeroplane travelling to Glasgow and then performed together for the first time later that very night! Their press release states that this “speaks volumes about the spontaneous and intuitive character of the pair”, and this is certainly true of this album, which falls firmly within the acoustic folk genre.
Track one, ‘The Lake’ demonstrates how in tune with each other the pair are, acoustic guitars gently strum and light ethereal vocals soar above: “If autumn came, last night I saw, came from the West, beyond the lake.” All a little bit hippyish, especially the chorus of “Blessed be the grass that grows around farmers.” However, this works and sounds great.
‘Hallway’ which follows is more of a duet and sounds quite up tempo, making use of chimes to augment the fine guitar work. Chantal’s vocals on this one are quite breathy and indistinct, but with a refrain of “It’s majestic to behold”, you get the feeling that you know exactly what they mean.
‘Elskan’ is another good duet with Chantal and Craig interweaving guitar melodies and harmonies in order to create a great laid back sound. Once again, the lyrics tend to follow classic hippy/folk patterns: - “Flowers gather touched by her hand.”
‘Love We Are’ blends guitar and piano, to create a great tune and vibe, but I can’t really work out what this one’s actually about as the vocals are just too indistinct.
'Trying To Make It Home’ is slower and details the story of a relationship that has broken down: - “Flying up sky-high, surrender this life. How could he tell her more lies?” The vocals on this are fragile and suit the mood of the song, and its sense of hopelessness perfectly: - “People see it all the time; no one sees the truth in her eyes.”
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‘Drawing the Lines’ takes a slightly different direction, mainly using piano in stead of guitar, with equal effect. ‘For This Life’ is a nice little strum along of a love song, once again with angelic vocals! “Is any boy as sweet as you, my darling?”
‘How to Find’ uses a slow melodic guitar line and details the story of a woman who has been left broken hearted: - “How she lost her heart, left in pieces/ No faith at all, she felt left behind/ How to find, how to find.”
Finally, we have ‘Ticky Tok’, simplistic and like a nursery rhyme: - “If all seas were one sea, what a great sea that would be/ If all trees were one tree, what a great tree that would be/ If all men were one man, what a great man that would be.”
Overall, I liked this album, which had some good yet sparse melodies and a haunting, hypnotic vocal. The only complaint that I could raise would be the lack of a lyric sheet that left me confused at times as the vocals were just too ethereal! However, this album is certainly worth a listen.
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