Tracks from the heart
True Bypass stay true to the emotional and spiritual roots of musical creativity – these minimalistic tracks make use of bare riffs and naked vocals, with melodies that are the essence of simplicity to reflect, glittering into a cold sonic stillness.
The Belgian duo express an open innocence in these predominantly acoustic guitar based tracks, with Chantal Acda's vocals fully exposed in their emotional exhalations, riffs complete with squeaks of fret changes and shifts of fingers on string. True Bypass hark back to the style of Jose Gonzalez, or the stripped down sound of Joshua Radin. Simple yet effective, tracks like 'How to Find' use nothing other than a riff made up of a few notes, enhanced by harmonising female and male vocals (courtesy of Craig Ward – the other half of the duo) to create atmospheric sound. In tracks like 'Trying to Make it a Home' – pauses and silence are used to pour out emotion, with record crackling adding a vintage feel. 'Love We Are' entwines guitar, harp and several vocal parts, reaching an arching melody on the chorus.
True Bypass demonstrate that less is more, and simplicity is key - the repetition of riffs is somewhat mesmerising and though they might become a bore for some, for many the heartfelt, homemade nature of these tracks are enough to keep a spirit held in a rapt attention.