
photo courtesy of shervin lainez
The jammy exuberantly artful wordplay of "To Forget You", by Seattle-raised, Los Angeles-based artist, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Joh Chase, is (all by itself) worth the price of admission but there is so much more sparkly musical delights to bathe in. Chase is an exceptional musician, their guitar rhythms are so spot in the pocket (they also play synth / percussion) and along with a bevy of kick ass talented musicians, part of the joy of listening to this track is the urgent cadence and the absolutely slapping tightness, funky folk cored indie rock at it's finest. Chase's vocal countenance and aforementioned roller coaster melodies shine against the tight compositional things happening. Their voice that runs the gamut from home spun stylish attacks and busker folk yelps and twirls has me envisioning a more young, punk-esque Sheryl Crow.
AND those words:
Record making it like saying says it,
You didn't have a phone, I couldn't leave a message
Disconnected, dial tone deflected,
Holding my breath while I got a bone to pick with
That picket fence tall around your love nest
Iconic protecting those sweet caresses
You showed me lies with your French accent
Pulled me in just to play lesbian
You didn't have a phone, I couldn't leave a message
Disconnected, dial tone deflected,
Holding my breath while I got a bone to pick with
That picket fence tall around your love nest
Iconic protecting those sweet caresses
You showed me lies with your French accent
Pulled me in just to play lesbian
Now I'm waiting for all these feelings to fade out x2
Go to the beach to forget you
Call my mom to forget you
Walk my dog to forget you
Work my job to forget you
Sing a song to forget you
Say a prayer to forget you
Do all I can to forget you
Doing all I can to forget you
Call my mom to forget you
Walk my dog to forget you
Work my job to forget you
Sing a song to forget you
Say a prayer to forget you
Do all I can to forget you
Doing all I can to forget you
The mismatch of my past plays tag with the dreamy
flash of hope I made you
Just wanted to date you, but got in over my head in
spite of you
Boo, that I never even called you,
Something about you got me all in up in the trees like
Swiss Family Robinson
On my in between like peanut butter and then
Your mouth you used less and less got original in my
Smithsonian
How is it when I don't even know you,
I create a statue just to see you again, oh
flash of hope I made you
Just wanted to date you, but got in over my head in
spite of you
Boo, that I never even called you,
Something about you got me all in up in the trees like
Swiss Family Robinson
On my in between like peanut butter and then
Your mouth you used less and less got original in my
Smithsonian
How is it when I don't even know you,
I create a statue just to see you again, oh
Buy new jeans to forget you
Think nice things just trying to forget you
Think nice things just trying to forget you
Now I'm waiting for all these feelings to fade out x2
Hop on a bus, fly home, go to my old stomping
grounds
Sit by myself and throw some stones
Buy a coffee down the street, see all the new buildings they're building
Oh and I'm trying to doing all I can, do all I can
Dye my hair, I ain't shaving my legs, shit
I'm just trying to do all I can, just trying to do all I can to forget you
Hop on a bus, fly home, go to my old stomping
grounds
Sit by myself and throw some stones
Buy a coffee down the street, see all the new buildings they're building
Oh and I'm trying to doing all I can, do all I can
Dye my hair, I ain't shaving my legs, shit
I'm just trying to do all I can, just trying to do all I can to forget you
Now I'm waiting for all these feelings to fade out x4
LINER NOTES Excerpts on Joh Chase's latest album SOLO that dropped on April 26th. (bracketed):
LINER NOTES Excerpts on Joh Chase's latest album SOLO that dropped on April 26th. (bracketed):
[Chase’s musical journey has been a winding but steady evolution. While they were raised Evangelical and originally wrote songs that grappled with leaving the church, Chase found revelations in introspective songwriting. “My brain is completely filled with the music I was raised on: Elton John, The Cranberries, Bonnie Raitt, and the Mamas and the Papas,” they say. “I will always think of my music through that template while trying to find a place for myself in the world and pushing the boundaries of that.” With that foundation, Chase’s songs are dynamic and alive. SOLO gleefully bounces from sizzling blues to bedroom-recorded folk, soaring pop, and intimate indie rock. No two tracks sound alike but they’re all connected by Chase’s patient and enduring vision.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
https://www.instagram.com/joh_makes_music/
https://www.facebook.com/johchasemusic
https://www.johmusic.com/
https://x.com/_johchase?lang=en
Career trajectories are rarely linear or make logical sense. Life is unpredictable so all you can do is put in good work and keep at it. Joh Chase is a testament to this. Over the past two decades, the Seattle-raised, Los Angeles-based artist has persistently honed their songwriting and toured, opening for acts like Noah Gunderson and David Bazan. This dedication comes out entirely in their music, which feels so timeless, confident, and fully realized it can only come from someone who’s devoted their whole life to their craft. Their new songs feel like a turning point for them: the culmination of a lifetime of writing, losing, loving, and doing it all yourself. These singles, which toe the line between confessional folk and breezy but ethereal pop, are a dynamic introduction to an essential artist.
Chase thrives on perceptive and emotionally resonant insight: they’re able to pinpoint a feeling with staggering clarity. The simmering Sometimes, which evokes Fiona Apple’s intensity, finds them singing, “Take a big stride in the path I’ve been given / But I’m trying to find if this is what I’m living for.” But “Risking It With You” is the best example of this. There they sing, “There’s nothing I can control that makes the hard parts easy. But something I know for sure: I’m devoted to risking it with you.” The song came about from Chase witnessing their friends’ relationships fall apart in dramatic and life-altering ways. “You witness that and think, ‘Who knows what's going to happen in my own relationships,” they say. “I'll just risk the fact that that could happen anytime. Something weird could happen but that's just life.” To Chase, love is something worth the risk.
Joh Chase, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, folk, indie rock, busker punk, alt folk, folk indie, they / them, Seattle, Los Angeles, new album SOLO, "To Forget You" (Official Video),
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://www.instagram.com/joh_makes_music/
https://www.facebook.com/johchasemusic
https://www.johmusic.com/
https://x.com/_johchase?lang=en
Career trajectories are rarely linear or make logical sense. Life is unpredictable so all you can do is put in good work and keep at it. Joh Chase is a testament to this. Over the past two decades, the Seattle-raised, Los Angeles-based artist has persistently honed their songwriting and toured, opening for acts like Noah Gunderson and David Bazan. This dedication comes out entirely in their music, which feels so timeless, confident, and fully realized it can only come from someone who’s devoted their whole life to their craft. Their new songs feel like a turning point for them: the culmination of a lifetime of writing, losing, loving, and doing it all yourself. These singles, which toe the line between confessional folk and breezy but ethereal pop, are a dynamic introduction to an essential artist.
Chase’s musical journey has been a winding but steady evolution. While they were raised Evangelical and originally wrote songs that grappled with leaving the church, Chase found revelations in classic and introspective songwriting. “My brain is completely filled with the music I was raised on: Elton John, The Cranberries, Bonnie Raitt, and the Mamas and the Papas,” they say. “I will always think of my music through that template while trying to find a place for myself in the world and pushing the boundaries of that.” With that foundation, Chase’s songs are dynamic and alive. This year, the singles Chase is releasing gleefully bounce from sunny and sophisticated pop to bedroom-recorded folk, blues, and intimate indie rock. No two tracks sound alike but they’re all connected by a patient and enduring vision.
Just take “Lucky Penny,” which came out in February. It’s an impeccably summary tune that captures the euphoria of feeling like everything’s going your way. On the chorus, they sing, “And I’ll flip it, I’ll flip it, I’ll flip it, I’ll flip it again. And it always lands, always lands, always lands up on its head.” It’s an earworm that makes a more than welcome impression but it’s also a metaphor for the excitement of a new relationship. Elsewhere, Chase’s talent as an arranger comes out clearly on the mesmerizing “Another Lover,” which they recorded and mixed themself. Over layered vocal harmonies, minimalist percussion, and an understated guitar, Chase finds transcendence in simplicity. “Fairy Tale of my life / Find that one and make her a wife / But nothing sticks like they said it would,” sings Chase.
Just take “Lucky Penny,” which came out in February. It’s an impeccably summary tune that captures the euphoria of feeling like everything’s going your way. On the chorus, they sing, “And I’ll flip it, I’ll flip it, I’ll flip it, I’ll flip it again. And it always lands, always lands, always lands up on its head.” It’s an earworm that makes a more than welcome impression but it’s also a metaphor for the excitement of a new relationship. Elsewhere, Chase’s talent as an arranger comes out clearly on the mesmerizing “Another Lover,” which they recorded and mixed themself. Over layered vocal harmonies, minimalist percussion, and an understated guitar, Chase finds transcendence in simplicity. “Fairy Tale of my life / Find that one and make her a wife / But nothing sticks like they said it would,” sings Chase.
Chase thrives on perceptive and emotionally resonant insight: they’re able to pinpoint a feeling with staggering clarity. The simmering Sometimes, which evokes Fiona Apple’s intensity, finds them singing, “Take a big stride in the path I’ve been given / But I’m trying to find if this is what I’m living for.” But “Risking It With You” is the best example of this. There they sing, “There’s nothing I can control that makes the hard parts easy. But something I know for sure: I’m devoted to risking it with you.” The song came about from Chase witnessing their friends’ relationships fall apart in dramatic and life-altering ways. “You witness that and think, ‘Who knows what's going to happen in my own relationships,” they say. “I'll just risk the fact that that could happen anytime. Something weird could happen but that's just life.” To Chase, love is something worth the risk.
Joh Chase, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, folk, indie rock, busker punk, alt folk, folk indie, they / them, Seattle, Los Angeles, new album SOLO, "To Forget You" (Official Video),
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