AA Wallace

A recent trend has seen every band and their dog ditching their guitars for keyboards, trading jangly indie rock for smooth '80s synth-pop. AA Wallace (the mastermind behind Halifax, NS rockers Sleepless Nights) follows suit on his solo debut. But where too many acts end up excising personality in favour of precision, (Disambiguation) maintains Wallace's idiosyncratic style of pop craftsmanship. Embracing a lo-fi aesthetic uncommon to these types of projects, the songs reflect Wallace's push-pull with modernity. With only eight tracks, numbers like the instrumental "Post-Mortem Depression" come across like filler. But "Offline" and "Temporal Suspension" are the perfect manifestation of a musician who's spent his career making ragged rock recordings while professing his love for Vangelis.