The Letter Reviews Pacific Spirit

A nice review of 747’s Pacific Spirit from Blair Millen on “The Letter”

747 'Pacific Spirit' (Aquaregia)

Tasteful breakbeat with acid

Since his 2015 debut, a two-track EP of big room techno tools called My Brain Is Melting, the music of Canadian producer Ryan Chan as 747 has been evolving methodically and, with the gradual inclusion of a battery of squelches, quite tastefully. While his earlier techno work was inoffensive, over the course of a dozen EPs, he transformed his sound by embracing shades of trance and ambient, alongside what is now, undeniably, the key ingredient in his work: acid. 2021’s While My 303 Gently Weeps perfectly encapsulates his whole aesthetic at that time. And if further assurance were sought, you'd discover that Tin Man stepped in to remix Chan’s track Aurora Centralis in 2020.

Fast forward to 2025’s Pacific Spirit album and Chan has gone full acid/breakbeat. The techno is gone! Notably, after While My 303 Gently Weeps he only released two further EPs (Veiltail/Stairway in 2024 and, preceding the new LP, Deep Space Opera) both of which largely sounded like his older techno tracks (perhaps they were older tracks and he was clearing the decks?). In contrast though, his new breakbeat work is like a breath of fresh air. And even if there’s no particular boundaries being broken, what he’s produced with Pacific Spirit is nine genuinely banging tracks that cleverly fuse the familiar melancholy acid sound (of artists like Tin Man and Recondite) with a barrage of head rattling rhythms. A heady concoction that magically lends each acid refrain a unique voice, that relays either a sad message or a frantic communication, through its sinewy sound.

The album artwork is also superb, with long-time collaborator Emily Nicoll producing 300 unique images for the initial vinyl run.

1. Pacific Spirit

2. Lost Lagoon

3. Sea to Sky

4. Second Narrows

5. Expo

6. Camosun Bog

7. Pony Trail

8. Coquihalla

9. Cascadia