Exploiting the logic of intensive featuring, nowadays a common practice in the hip-hop realm, Stephen Buono’s Church Chords project has gained traction in the last three months with three pivotal singles preceding the release of the album elvis, he was Schlager: “Sweet Magnet,” featuring collaboration with Tortoise’s Jeff Parker, showcased a world-jazz tendency in the style of International Anthem. “Recent Mineral,” featuring Genevieve Artadi (Knower), presented elegant Portuguese lyrics, adding a tropical nuance to a Stereolab-esque dub, era “Dots and Loops:” “She Lays on a Leaf,” featuring the eclectic Macie Stewart of Finom, took an unexpected and well-received kraut turn with an almost free-jazz psychedelic tail. “Owned by Lust” completes the circle with an incendiary noise-punk featuring L.A. zzzahara from the Simps.
The latest single before the album release is “Alone Under the Water,” featuring Kristin Slipp, formerly of Dirty Projectors, a pivotal piece in the entire project as it was the first song to have lyrics. As Buono says: »Until then, I thought this record would be a collection of instrumentals. If singer/lyricist Kristin Slipp hadn’t agreed to collaborate, this record might not have happened. As someone who spends significant time in the ocean, I love the subject matter.»
“Alone Under the Water” is an ethereal pop, almost a trip-hop in the style of Portishead, slowly enveloping you in a tapestry of percussion and reverberations, adding another subtle shade to the multifaceted design of elvis, he was Schalger. [→versione italiana]

[Versione Italiana] Sfruttando la logica del featuring intensivo, pratica abbonamento in uso in ambito hip-hop, il progetto Church Chords di Stephen Buono ha preso copro negli ultimi tre mesi con tre singoli portanti: “Sweet Magnet,” con la collaborazione di Jeff Parker dei Tortoise, mostrava una tendenza world-jazz in stile International Anthem, “Recent Mineral,” con la collaborazione di Genevieve Artadi (Knower), ha elegante testo in portoghese che aggiunge una sfumatura tropicale a un dub in stile Stereolab di Dots and Loops, “She Lays on a Leaf,” con la collaborazione delle Finom dell’eclettica Macie Stewart, è un inattesa e ben accolta svolta kraut con una coda psichedelica quasi free-jazz, e “Owned by Lust” chiude il cerchio con un noise-punk incendiario. 

L’ultimo singolo prima dell’uscita dell’album è “Alone Under the Water” e questa volta il featuring è di Kristin Slipp, già nei Dirty Projectors, pezzo chiave di tutto il progetto, visto che è stata la prima canzone a avere un testo. Prima di questa traccia Buono “immaginava il disco come una raccolta di brani strumentali. Se Kristin Slipp  non avesse accettato di collaborare, questo disco poteva anche non arrivare a esistere.”

“Alone Under the Water” è un pop etereo, quasi un trip-hop nello stile dei Portishead, che ti avvolge lentamente in una trama di percussioni e riverberi e aggiunge un’altra piccola sfumatura al disegno multivariegato di elvis, he was Schalger.

elvis, he was Schalger is out on February 23 via Otherly Love Records