Awash with fingerpicked guitars, string sections and tales of everyday people and the stories they’ve lived, ’Chaos for the Fly’ is something of a modern age folk record.

As frontman of the already legendary Fontaines DC, Grian Chatten presents his poetic lyrics about life and its hardships over distorted guitars and heavily beaten skins. In contrast to what has become his trademark, the Fontaines lead singer reveals a new side of himself on his first solo endeavour. The outcome, produced by Dan Carey, is an intense and introspective record awash with fingerpicked guitars, string sections and tales of everyday people and the stories they’ve lived, ’Chaos for the Fly’, at its core, is a modern day folk record.

Opening track ‘The Score’ drifts in with a gloomy attitude, words are softly sung over fingerpicked guitars before a drum machine kicks in, bringing the song away from its folk roots and into the digital age.

The drum machine carries us over into the second track ’Last Time Every Time Forever’. All the while, Chatten’s vocal melody, and a soul-stirring counter melody from his partner Georgie Jesson, dance around the music. The strings develop into ‘Fairlies’, which is loosely evocative of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Venus in Furs’.

‘Bob’s Casino’ is enchanting as vocals are passed back and forth over guitars, horns, synths and strings all delicately floating in and out upon a tender tide of drums. Side two opens with ‘East Coast Bed’, synths play as Chatten’s velvet vocal texture creates a dream-like state. Following on, ’Salt Throwers Off A Truck’ brings us back down firmly onto the earth’s soil through its strummed guitar, faintly bowed strings and narrative about a life in a city.

Penultimate track ’I Am So Far’ anchors the melancholy and mournful themes that stretch across ‘Chaos For The Fly’. Alluring backing vocals complete the scene, harmonising with Chatten to create a haunting soundscape. Then, closer ’Season For Pain’ transitions through different musical stages directly mirroring the album’s firmly rooted topics.

Chatten’s debut feels emotionally as if it’s teetering between hope and pain; it is a deeply honest and humble record. With each song having its own dark and seedy tale to spin, you can’t help but be caught up within the astonishing poetry produced and the intricate layers within the music. Through its highs and lows, hard exterior and soft interior, through open light space as well as dark lonely corners, ‘Chaos For the Fly’ is a masterful solo debut that conveys a range of emotion, intelligence and vision.

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