DETROIT – Alternative pop trio Chase Atlantic dropped their sophomore full-length album, "PHASES" Friday.
The group, with roots in Australia, was formed in 2014 by Mitchel Cave, his older brother Clinton and their friend Christian Anthony.
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The two brothers were classically trained as musicians and singers and began honing their production skills as teenagers. During that time they began combining sounds from genres including pop, electro and even rock and R&B.
When they added live instrumentation and vocals to the mix, the trio realized they had something going for them. The trio also noted their strong bond, which helps them create a sound that's fluid and catchy.
“We’re on the same wavelength,” Mitchel Cave said. “We have the same outlook and that’s why we’ve been such great friends for such a long time. Our music-making is synergistic; we all share the same musical brain. We make music that is hard to define by genre but easy to enjoy.”
When the group started releasing music online they developed a following in their home country. Their single, "Friends," received attention from Good Charlotte's Joel and Benji Madden and they were signed to MDDN in 2016.
In 2017 they released a pair of EPs and a self-titled debut LP. They began performing sold-out headline shows and touring around the world.
“To be where we are today with music as our career, having grown up without a lot, it’s one of the best feelings in the world,” Mitchel Cave said. “We went from staring at the same four walls for 18 years to seeing the whole world. We have to keep our heads -- everything in moderation. Well, music-making should not be in moderation, but everything else. As long as we’ve got our headphones and laptops, we have all we need.”
The 12 tracks on "PHASES" combine to create a hypnotic album with a dark side that explores emotional vibes and vivid beats.
“We made this album because we wanted to drastically pivot the angle from which pop culture is viewed and ultimately digested,” Mitchel Cave said. “Throughout our career so far, Chase Atlantic has always been represented as a ‘go to’ for unique and complex music with high sonic value. We’ve been able to fuse genres and aesthetics together to create a defined nocturnal bliss of our own, blending dreamy melodies with moody progressions, all the while touching on subjects from drug abuse to romantic pieces.”
The album explores topics ranging from falling in love to drug addiction in a vulnerable way. "Heaven And Back" is a track that explicitly depicts the struggles of addiction and the cost of the opioid epidemic. And "Even Though I'm Depressed" takes a harsh look at the ups and downs of one's struggle with mental health and suicidal tendencies.
"I'm caught on the fence / I'm either happy or I wish I was dead / My life is a mess
I kinda like it even though I'm depressed / I'm caught on the fence / I'm either happy or I wish I was dead / My life is a mess / I f---ing love it even though I'm depressed"
The song "I Don't Like Darkness" concludes the album with an unguarded plea that's both rhythmic and heartbreaking.
"Please don't leave this house, I don't like darkness / I don’t wanna see you out, I don't like darkness / Hate it when I close my eyes, I don't like darkness / I don't wanna go outside, I don't like darkness"
Chase Atlantic takes their sound to the next level with this explorational album.
“This album feels as though it is truly a work of astronomical measures,” he said. “It’s the first time we were able to honestly and openly hone into something so monumentally special and raw without compromising even an inch of our integrity as artists. We’ve developed a completely new sound within a matter of months that has never been tapped into before. Chase Atlantic is now dwelling within a realm of its own; it’s both scarily isolating and blissfully euphoric at the same time. Welcome to a whole new era.”
Chase Atlantic will perform Friday, July 19, at Saint Andrews Hall in Detroit.
Click here for ticket information.
Tracklist:
- "INTRO"
- "ANGELS"
- "PHASES"
- "LOVE IS (NOT) EASY"
- "HER"
- "NO RAINBOWS"
- "HEAVEN AND BACK"
- "STUCKINMYBRAIN"
- "EVEN THOUGH I'M DEPRESSED"
- "TOO LATE"
- "I NEVER EXISTED"
- "I DON'T LIKE DARKNESS"