Grian Chatten has stated “each half” of his debut solo album, ‘Chaos For The Fly’ “from the chord progressions to the string preparations,” got here to him whereas strolling alongside the seaside in a seaside city thirty miles north of Dublin. As album opener ‘The Rating’s acoustic guitar trickles in and Chatten sings evenly, “I’m that wave that breaks under /I will provide you with thrills and take your ache” his tone dropping to sinister octaves earlier than harmonizing his hums with the strings backing him. His account that the album “got here to me on the waves” instantly feels plausible.
The Fontaines D.C. frontman wrote the ‘Chaos For The Fly’ whereas on tour for the Irish band’s critically-acclaimed third album ‘Skinty Fia’. The follow-up to 2020’s Grammy-nominated ‘A Hero’s Dying’ and 2019’s Mercury-nominated ‘Dogrel’ topped charts and set the band out on an arduous touring cycle. The relentlessness wore on Chatten, driving him to what he advised NME have been “matches of hysteria and rage”, pushing him to lock himself in rooms in the course of soundcheck.
By some means, amid the emotional onslaught, he made area to create 9 tracks, co-producing them with longtime Fontaines collaborator Dan Carey (Moist Leg, Black Midi, Foals) and recording them in simply two weeks. Chatten’s debut could also be a sonic departure from the post-punk-laden tracks of the band he fronts. Nonetheless, his peerless, trustworthy lyricism and distinct vocals are nonetheless recognisable on prime of a combination of glittering synths, wispy acoustic guitars, and layers of ethereal strings.
‘Final Time Each Time Without end’s pop soundscapes unravel into rattling percussion and sinister strings as Chatten sings about what he known as a drury “hellscape city of your individual making” questioning the world he’s created with the phrases, “Am I the wingless one?/ That retains me right here?” In ‘All Of The Folks’, the author doesn’t mince phrases, pointing his lyrical purpose at humanity, noting that everybody is a liar. The sombre track is riddled with pointed observations, as he sings “I’m laborious as my cash / Yeah, you’re comfortable as a lie” at one level and “You suppose that you just love me however you don’t” at one other, his voice almost naked towards the delicate instrumentation behind him.
‘Fairlies’ is an ideal instance of Chatten’s intense songwriting, as he notes, “kindness is a tick to show you unusual” and wonders “child do you miss the times earlier than hope knocked in your door?” whereas the manufacturing echoes his sentiments. In direction of the top of the observe, the devices intermingle, a clashing of strings and piano keys because the tempo will increase, lifting in the direction of a cathartic sonic launch earlier than falling again into silence. All through every observe, the ‘Chaos For The Fly’s orchestration acts like a second voice, pushing ahead moody moments an aiding him in illuminating the darkest corners of his thoughts with climbing partitions of sound engulfing his painstakingly poetic writing.
Because the saying goes: “what’s regular to the spider is chaos to the fly”. Within the disarray of hysteria, touring and being thrust into the unrelenting vivid mild of fame, Chatten discovered a semblance of stability by channelling acute discomfort right into a stirring, spotless debut, and what he excavated from the biting darkness just isn’t solely stunning however promising.
Particulars
- Launch date: June 30
- Document label: Partisan Information
