CHON’s highly anticipated sophomore album Homey combines the highly technical and progressive elements of their previous EPs and album with a whole new level of chill. On the whole, this album just makes you feel as if you’re lying down on a hot summer’s day in your garden whilst sipping on a nice cold pint. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to illustrate an album any clearer! The loose concept behind the name Homey comes from “…the music being inspired by where we live in Southern California,” says the band.
The album starts off with “Sleepy Tea” which fades in with some hard-hitting drum grooves before establishing the main melodic hooks of the track. A key feature of CHON’s playing is the ever-interweaving intricacy of the two guitarists Erick Hansel and Mario Camarena. The two of them manage to create a scenario in which at times they act as if they’re duelling against each other whilst simultaneously reacting and comforting each other’s riffs. “Waterslide” follows a similar theme and the music video for this track is unbelievably cute, featuring a dog on a skateboard.
Third track, “Berry Streets”, is the first of four collaborative efforts the band made. It’s full of electronics and samples very similar to that of more dance and pop type music genres. The collaboration is with San Francisco based beat maker and jazz guitarist GoYama. “No Signal” is closer to classic CHON giving vibes off their Newborn Sun EP. Drummer Nathan Camarena’s drum grooves are a highlight of this track, with sporadic and slightly ‘cheeky’ moments of blast beats and over the top drum fills that still work with the mellow and calm vibe.
“Nayhoo” is the second of these collaborative tracks featuring producer Lophile and trap house jazz artist Maesgo. A nice bonus on the last album was the two vocal tracks that former bassist Drew sang over, and the inclusion of vocals on a CHON instrumental in this album will be a huge hit too. The raps and rhythms that Maesgo adds to an arguably watered down CHON instrumental, work so well. I honestly would be up for hearing a whole album full of that stuff! “Feel This Way” collabs with producer Giraffage and is very much a mashup of popular electronic dance music styles and CHON’s classic instrumental rock style. While my least favourite out of the collaborative tracks in the album, it was still enjoyable.
The fourth team up, “Glitch”, was with ROM and had a very bouncy hip hop feel to it. The band expressed ‘This time we tried a lot of new things out that we’ve always wanted to do, one of which being the chance to collaborate with a bunch of our favorite artists of all time, so this is a special album to us’. Tracks “Checkpoint”, “Here and There”, “The Space”, “Continue?” and finally “Wave Bounce” all clearly show the prowess and technical skills that CHON possess whilst still creating an inviting and laid back atmosphere.
All in all I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this refreshing album and I can’t wait for CHON to tour the UK some time soon!
Homey is out on the 16th June
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