Seablite shoegaze maven Lauren Matsui has traded her two suitcases of guitar pedals for an assortment of Korgs, Rolands and Yamahas on I Dream Watching, the debut EP from her solo project, Rhymies.

The songs are built on arpeggiated melodies and sequences rooted in the nostalgia of an 80s dance party. The gauzy textures serve as a perfect base for Matsuis breathy, wistful vocals. Often glimpsed through the mire of swirling guitars on Seablite records, here they take center stage, to great effect.

The title track brings to mind another artistically successful convert from guitar-to-synth-pop, Patience (Roxanne Clifford of Veronica Falls), while Crashing Lead somehow fuses the bounce of early Madonna with the ethereal, surreal vocals of Cocteau Twins. Its the closer (and shortest track at 2:40), Hesperian (Again) which points to what we can hope for in the future. It builds one layer at a time to an ecstatic crescendo, before abruptly leaving us with only the memory of the refrain – Whens it happening?. For Rhymies, if theres any justice, the answer is NOW.