Chic Chameleon – Doomed (2022)
With his debut EP Doomed, Chic Chameleon takes us through feelings of loss, sadness and healing. Woven into the recurring theme of loss throughout the EP is a dream of a better place where the pain you feel is no longer present. Written during the pandemic, the EP takes what we had all been feeling and turns it into a healing journey that leads us from a bleak moment in our shared history to something brighter and more hopeful.
This look at the dark emotions we have all faced and our journey to hope comes from multi-instrumentalist Patrick Froese. Drawing on his background growing up on a farm in Alberta, he brings a vastness to his sound. After getting a Music degree with a major in composition, he started working on this project which combines the vastness of the plains with thick choruses and lush reverbs.
The EP opens with ‘Samtree’ which has a really chill opening that warbles with a slight delay to the guitar. The vocals bring a dream-pop wash to the track that further softens the soundscape and adds to the chill vibes. While you feel like you are sinking into soft clouds, there is a thread of melancholy woven into the sound. This comes through more as the vocals seem to sigh with the weight they carry. It is an interesting contrast of soft tones and sadness that is undeniably addictive. You want to close your eyes and float on the softness only to have your heartstrings tugged by the sad emotions. The chorus rises higher adding an extra edge to the emotions of the track, while also taking the soft floating to another level.
‘Dreaming of Heaven’ has a more organic feeling to the opening as the gentle tones of the guitar meets a soft organ. The dreamy twang that enters is like a swirl of pastel colours flitting to the side as you travel down a cloudy path. The vocals have a sighing quality to them that pulls you into the stream of thought that makes up the lyrics. There are questions woven into the lyrics that often flit through our brains in that moment between being awake and asleep. This turns into a longing to be somewhere other than where you are because you know it will be better. It is a strangely warm melancholic track that gently fills you with the longing and sadness of the EP.
There is a different feeling to ‘Noble Lies’ as the opening forgoes the dreaminess of the last tracks, for a progressive guitar chord. The hazy dreaminess does enter with the vocals creating a fog that hovers over the guitar line. The vocal performance has a really expansive feeling like it is winding its way to the horizon and beckoning you to follow. This perfectly matches the music that flows endlessly forward with the roll of the drums gently pushing you into the momentum. At times, the dreaminess drops for the guitar line to come back and bring a grounded emotional sense to the track.
The EP closes with the title track ‘Doomed’ which has a slow opening that gradually comes to life from a blanket of silence. The shuffle of the drums bolsters the guitar notes while the softness of the synths is like an awakening. The interplay between the almost earth beats and the dreamy higher notes is wonderful as you are drawn to inhabit the space between them. In this space you are met by the vocals that continue the dreamy vibes of the rest of the EP, but have a hint of something organic woven in. It is like this track draws you out of the haze of melancholy and toward a brighter future that is full of hope. There are overlapping vocals that adds richness to the single, while the musical notes lap against your senses.
Chic Chameleon takes us on a soft and dreamy journey, packed with tugs of melancholy and longing that lead to a hopeful feeling in Doomed. The tracks of the EP all carry a dreamy softness that is tempered by a sadness and longing woven into the sound. Through the tracks he touches on emotions that we are all familiar with and a journey many have been on.
Find out more about Chic Chameleon on his website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
