(2023) Chet Faker - Hotel Surrender (2 Discs) [Expanded Edition]        


Review:
Reviving the Chet Faker persona he'd abandoned back in 2016, Nick Murphy finds salvation in the hypnotic grooves and dark electronic soul of Hotel Surrender. Faker's breakout 2014 debut was a chilled-out delight of crafty trip-hop beats, jazzy sway, and disarmingly rich vocals. The two follow-up records he made under his given name found the Australian singer/producer nurturing his organic pop tendencies to strong critical response but lackluster chart performance. Back in Faker mode, he wields an effortless sense of cool, assembling a set of mood pieces that are cathartic in a subtle and often joyful way. Recording in New York just as the city was entering the 2020 pandemic lockdown, Murphy was dealt an additional blow by the sudden death of his father. Shaded by tragedy and global tension, he recast his project as a form of therapy in the hopes of offering some shred of inspiration, to himself and others. Laid out like a mission statement in the spoken intro of "Oh Me Oh My," Faker intones with weary wonder "Music does something, I don't know what it does, I just accept it as the sky is blue." As the track kicks in, he delivers a tour de force full of slinky charm and quirky asides sounding like a hip-hop Andrew Bird or a bluesy Beck. Another highlight, "Low," is full of bootstrapping affirmations and eerie dub-like sonic details. As Faker rolls through dreamy electro soundscapes ("Whatever Tomorrow") and funky neo-soul ("Feel Good" and "So Long So Lonely''), he sounds more fascinated by life's turns than bummed out by them. Proof that you can't keep a good man down, Hotel Surrender is a testament to Murphy's skills as an artist and his attitude as a person. — allmusic




Track List:

Disc 1
01 - Oh Me Oh My
02 - Low
03 - Get High
04 - Whatever Tomorrow
05 - It's Not You
06 - Peace of Mind
07 - Feel Good
08 - I Must Be Stupid
09 - So Long So Lonely
10 - In Too Far

Disc 2
01 - I Wanna Try Something New
02 - It Could Be Nice
03 - Down to Earth
04 - Low (Boys Noize Remix)
05 - Whatever Tomorrow (Soulwax Remix)
06 - It's Not You (Nightshade Remix)
07 - Feel Good (A-Trak Remix)
08 - Whatever Tomorrow (Extended Version)
09 - It's Not You (Demo)
10 - Oh Me Oh My (Live Sessions)
11 - Low (Live Sessions)
12 - Whatever Tomorrow (Live Sessions)
13 - It's Not You (Live Sessions)


Media Report:
Genre: electronic, indie-pop
Country: Melbourne, Australia
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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