Chet Faker/Photo: Sarah Eiseman
Following the February 13 release of his new album, “A Love For Strangers,” Chet Faker will be playing the Vic Theatre on May 20. Nick Murphy, the man behind the Chet Faker stage name, has described the release as a full-circle exercise: a work that harkens back to his roots and what transfixed him about music as a young artist, made with the maturity of someone well beyond a dozen years into their career.
Australia enjoys a rich tradition of psychedelic, folk and house music. Murphy—from Melbourne—would seem to sample from all three. He has cited Bob Dylan and chilled-out records from Ibiza as early influences, and perhaps his most well-known works are his collaborations with electronic artist Flume, in particular “Drop The Game” from “Lockjaw” (2013). “A Love For Strangers” is only Murphy’s fourth full-length release as Chet Faker, having shelved the nom de plume in 2016 before reviving it to release “Hotel Surrender” in 2021.
Prior to reassuming the Chet Faker moniker, he was prolific and highly successful as Murphy, having released three LPs and four EPs along with a number of singles over five years, including further high-profile collaborations with the likes of Kaytranada on “Your Time” (2017). Murphy has spent the last ten years venturing into deep electronic genres, hip-hop collabs, soul and ambient indie. It is fitting that “A Love For Strangers,” an album Murphy described as a reflective effort that is inspired by “loves that I experienced, bottled up into song form” in an interview with Atwood Magazine, is conceptually closer to his roots of downtempo electronic indie with elements of soul.
Murphy sings on the opener “Over You” of the repetitive, continually looping nature of getting over a breakup—of time moving while feelings remain staid. These are motifs woven throughout the album delicately, but heavily, making for mature but easy listening. In “This Time For Real,” Murphy meditates on love as a series of attempts, while juxtaposing that same idea with how he views his career. He ponders wrestling with the expectations that his public and artistic persona create in others, positing that this dissonance is something he experiences not only professionally but in his personal relationships.
Self-image, unresolved contradictions, isolation and connection as an antidote are prevalent themes throughout the entire work. Perhaps in “This Time For Real” it is made most clear why he originally dropped the Chet Faker image, only to generate just as much notoriety as Nick Murphy, so to hell with it—he decides to re-embrace his original moniker.
“A Love For Strangers” is a strong, deeply emotional, tastefully dramatic, intelligently poetic and sonically satisfying album. Its incorporation of soul, electronic textures, piano and electronic indie is a delightful if morose canvas for Murphy to paint upon, and will make for a deeply intimate show at the Vic.
Chet Faker plays the Vic Theatre, 3145 North Sheffield, on Wednesday May 20, with Ideas by Ab and Heathered Pearls. Tickets, starting at $48, are available here.
