Review Summary: Seeking only answers, hearing only lies
As someone who has admired but never quite loved all three of Fontaines D.C.’s critically-acclaimed records, I greeted the news of the Irish group’s frontman Grian Chatten’s first solo album with both excitement and a touch of apprehension. Excitement, because Chatten’s talent as as a songwriter with interesting things to say has never been in question; apprehension, because solo efforts in the rock world tend to lean more heavily on singer-songwriter tropes of “man with a guitar singing”, and while Chatten’s vocals are charismatic, commanding, and instantly-recognizable behind Fontaines D.C.’s post-punk grooves, removed from that context, I wouldn’t say his singing voice is particularly “good” in a conventional sense.
In hindsight, my misgivings were misplaced - not only because it turns out that Chatten has the chops (very gruff voice and all) to carry a solo album, but because my premise was probably foolish to begin with (some guy named Bob Dylan has had a pretty good singer-songwriter career, after all). The most important things for this kind of effort are arrangements, songwriting, and captivating delivery, rather than any technically perfect singing form, and the first three factors are on point here.
Chaos for the Fly is not a happy album. This probably won’t shock basically anyone, as Fontaines D.C. has always been a “down in the dumps” sort of act. The balancing act this album manages to execute is that most of the songs have a hint of the jaunty about them, usually either a classic-sounding lounge feel or a beautiful male/female vocal duet, while the lyrics are melancholy contemplations of grim subjects like gambling addiction, depression, and death. While the “bright-sounding sad song” idea is far from new, it’s pulled off exceptionally here.
All nine tunes on
Chaos for the Fly are solid, and the tracklist is satisfyingly varied, ranging from the bouncy (but bleak) “Fairlies” to the folky “Salt Thrower Off A Truck” - the latter being a masterwork of lyrics to dissect. As a whole, it’s a rather downbeat affair, but there’s enough twists and turns to keep this more lively than you might expect. A song like the gently sad “East Coast Bed”, apparently about the death of a “second mother” figure from Chatten’s youth, is among the best he’s ever penned, while “Season For Pain” proves perfect as a last act, seemingly musing about the closing a particular door in life, a sad occasion but perhaps a necessary one.
As mentioned in my first paragraph, I wasn’t necessarily enthusiastic about
Chaos for the Fly when I first learned of its existence - given I’d never quite succumbed fully to Fontaines D.C. the way others whose views on music I respect have. It’s a bit ironic, then, that I can say with confidence that this album has wriggled its way into my heart to a degree that none of Chatten’s full band releases have.
Chaos for the Fly might be morose, but it’s also very touching, and full of delicate little moments which make the record more than just the sum of its parts. Frankly, my biggest gripe is that its thirty-six minute runtime is a little too trim, and an epic five-plus minute storytelling track would’ve definitely enhanced the experience. In the outro to “Fairlies”, Chatten sings “
across the River Styx, I’ll row along, but I’ve got one more song”. Here’s hoping that he’s got far more than one cracking tune left to share with us all.
