Chet Faker: Thinking in Textures (12"EP) [DOWNTOWN]

Why you'll love it

This 12-inch EP plays at 33 1/3 and comes with a download card. Thinking In Textures won Best Independent Single/EP at the Australian Independent Records Awards and introduced Chet Faker's smoky, late-night soul.

This edition

• Download card included
• Stereo mix

About the album

Melbourne's Nick Murphy picked his stage name as a nod to Chet Baker, and the debt shows in the voice, which is hushed and a little smoky. He wrote, played and produced Thinking In Textures himself, mixing soul, downtempo electronica and R&B into a sound that fits somewhere between a dimly lit bar and a long night drive.

His cover of Blackstreet's "No Diggity" is what got everyone's attention, slowed down to a crawl and stripped back to keys, beats and that soulful croon. "I'm Into You" glides on a soft, warm groove, "Terms And Conditions" and "Love And Feeling" show off his gift for a lazy, aching melody, and "Cigarettes And Chocolate" and "Solo Sunrise" close things in a mellow haze. Andrei Eremin mastered it, and Christopher Doyle's artwork suits the mood. There are seven songs, each built from a few simple parts and plenty of space.

The EP set up his debut album Built on Glass and a long career since, and if you know him from his later work as Nick Murphy, this is where the story starts. It's the kind of record that makes you want to dim the lights, though we'd advise against doing that while browsing the bins.

Also at Kops: more Chet Faker on vinyl · browse Electronic

Tracklist

Listen

On Downtown / Opulent (cat# DWT70340), the 2012 EP.