Although perhaps best known as lead guitarist for 4AD’s Merchandise, on his third solo album, ‘Guitar Dream’, David Vassaloti’s abilities as a songwriter and multiinstrumentalist are finally given an opportunity to shine, thanks in no small part to the production and engineering talents of co-conspirator and Merchandise frontman Carson Cox.

A quasi-breakup album voiced through a protean pastiche of dejected characters, ‘Guitar Dream’ finds Vassalotti at his most up-front and confessional. While 2015’s genrespanning Broken Rope was interspersed with loops, samples and sound-collages, ‘Guitar Dream’ features more straightforward songwriting that is reminiscent of Merchandise’s melancholic post-punk balladry, albeit with an added dose of gravitas.

Fractured glam, keyboard trumpets and, yes, the occasional guitar solo prop up Vassalotti’s dynamic yet unpolished vocals, which are ghostified by blankets of delay and reverb. While the beautifully sad guitar line on opening track ‘This Extravagant Lie’ sets the tone for the album in just four bars, outliers like ‘Let It Burn’ shift to a minor key and themes of destruction, before closer ‘What Shall You Say Tonight’, with its oscillating synths and a punctuating yelp, wakes us up from the dream on a hopeful note.

“Vassalotti is simply one of the most brilliant and inventive guitarists of the past decade” – NME

“His knack for building a hook with little flash evokes how Lawrence could make Felt songs feel both poignant and giddy” – Pitchfork

“Vassalotti sings visceral poetry… over steadily paced layers of guitar” – The Fader