The Chordaes – In Itinere
Mindy McCall
Posted On March 19, 2018
The Chordaes – In Itinere
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/thechordaes/sets/in-itinere-ep
The Chordaes’ emergence from New York City in 2014 heralded the arrival of a creative unit committed to recording mature, yet vital and contemporary, songs acknowledging past influences while firmly planting its flag in the present and future. Their 2016 debut album Touch the Ground featured the core duo of lead singer/rhythm guitarist Leo Sawikin and drummer Ethan Glenn collaborating with session musicians, but the band didn’t begin to truly take shape until the summer of 2017 when lead guitarist/vocalist Kevin Foley, keyboard player Dan Cobert, and bassist/vocalist Nick McFly completed the current lineup and struck up a chemistry sure to sustain the band for years to come. The Chordaes’ foundation will always be the longstanding friendship between founders Leo Sawikin and Ethan Glenn, but the material on this fantastic six song EP release illustrates the promise this newly minted outfit has left to realize and makes significant strides in that direction over its six songs.
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5yPGAFGmYD6t57iZUl5g1X
Grammy award winning producer Marc Swersky (Joe Cocker, Roger Daltrey) makes a palpable impact on the opener “What Do You Want From Me?” thanks to the powerful production highlighting a vast array of strengths in the band’s arsenal. The chief among these for the opener are the framing pulse for the song from drummer Ethan Glenn and the steadily percolating guitar work from Foley and Sawikin. It’s difficult to not be bewitched by the emotional wail at the heart of Sawikin’s singing. The band’s talent for invoking functional rather than purely ornamental atmospherics in their music comes thoroughly vividly on the EP’s second song “Something New” which was just remixed by legendary mixer Mark Needham (Imagine Dragons, The Killers, Neon Trees) and quickly escalates from a considered introduction into a full throated, keyboard laden, pop rocker. The vocal harmonies are particularly notable. “The Last Time” opens with some stylized but very effective guitar work and it’s clear from the first lines this offering ranks among Sawikin’s finest moments yet as a lyricist. There’s a patient and deliberate edge to this song and a different side of the band’s personality represents a welcome shift in gears.
“Run and Hide” has the same sort of considered pacing and the guitar effects are enhanced by the emotional qualities of Sawikin’s voice. This is one of the best illustrations of that on the EP. Its final song “California” opens with a gossamer swell of keyboards and some artful acoustic guitar heralding the arrival of Sawikin’s voice in the mix. It begins life as a very stripped back, nakedly vulnerable quasi-ballad and soon transforms into a vocal showcase and steady final curtain for an EP packing an album’s worth of goodness into a traditionally small space. If Touch the Ground didn’t establish them as an immediate force on the scene, there’s no question In Itinere will prove to be the ear and head-turner The Chordaes need to ascend to the level they deserve.
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/thechordaes
Mindy McCall
