ACER is a dream pop duo made up of multi-instrumentalist Kyle Gottschalk and vocalist/art director Connory Ballantyne. Borrowing from the brooding post-punk sound of their former band House Art, Ballantyne’s vocals lend a confident and lyrical vision to the dynamically maximalist instrumentals written out of Gottschalk’s love for bedroom pop and shoegaze. 

Brooding new single “Vacant” offers catharsis. Ballantyne had started dating someone new after a truly crushing breakup, and so the experience of restarting sparked reflection on the perpetuity and strangeness of his feelings. “Keep me in your contacts, keep me the boy you’re dreaming of,” he sings. 

ACER (July 8) is a youthful and hungry EP showcasing the musical diversity and raw energy of the two producers. Dreamy atmospheres abound (a nod to Beach House, Daniel Lanois, or Eno), the tracks sputter and glitch to life reminiscent of bedroom producers like JPEGMAFIA or the recent work of Toro Y Moi. Ballantyne’s vocals constantly flirt between the swaggering bravado of artists like Archie Marshal’s King Krule, the effect-laden Justin Vernon or Kanye, and the soft ambience of Slowdive.