Sal Addays @ Foxy Digitalis
An assured agglomeration of country-influenced songs, not far stylistically from what Will Johnson was doing with his South San Gabriel project last year. But I like King’s approach a bit better; there’s more clarity to it in sound and method alike. The acoustic guitars are vibrant, the electrics tasteful and complementary, and the pedal steels never overbearing. King’s voice separates the record from the pack too; he mostly stays firmly in a baritone/bass range, grounding even the songs that feature a lighter instrumental touch (“Sandy”). His timbre lends a sad credibility to lines like “I’m drinking all the fun away…I want to blow all the actors away” (“Stacy”) or “You won’t see the sorry on my face” (“Linda”). He does stretch into the upper reaches of his range in “Naiomi,” but it’s not an unwelcome change, as the pedal steel buoys the arrangement nicely.

A foray into more standard indie-pop on “Angela” makes me realize who King’s voice has been reminding me of all along: David Bazan. That’s not to say King’s music has anything to do with Pedro the Lion, much less that he’s mimicking it, but I find both King and Bazan able to exploit their lower vocal ranges in their songwriting. It’s not often done, or done well, but King holds his own. “Maggie” follows with a more distressing arrangement, balanced uneasily on a tense encounter of open guitar chords and double-tracked violas. It’s these subtle moments at which King excels, and which shouldn’t allow him to toil in obscurity long. King also plays in a band called Hula, whom I haven’t heard, but his solo presence is strong here, uncommonly so.



Robert Ferdman @ IndieWorkshop
Some albums and songs are very personal affairs, often to the point where the lyrics, while no doubt significant to the writer, can be cryptic to the listener. Chad King's newest release, Well, Hell, comes off as such a record. This shouldn't be a quality that turns one away, however -- as with much art, the composer may have had very specific feelings or thinking about certain moments when it was created, but that doesn't have to make the experience any less meaningful to the listener. He or she takes away their own interpretation and understanding from the song/painting/poem/work, relating to it through his or her own experiences.

This is especially true when the record deals with relationships. Well, Hell is comprised of 11 songs, each bearing a woman's name, all relating a story about or describing his experience with the female in question. Although those relationships are often downcast, and sometimes destructive ("Well I see I'm not the only one/I been true, yes I been true/I'm always keen to find you're on the losing end and I'm on the boat again and sinking with you", from "Maria"), the album thankfully doesn't overindulge in simple cliché bitterness and self-loathing, keeping it from being a depressing affair you'll only listen to once or maybe less.

The cardboard packaging is made to look and open up like a matchbook, and this pretty much sets the tone for what kind of music you're about to hear: hushed, quietly melodic, mostly acoustic songs that are best listened to at night, preferably with a minimum of light (but not complete darkness) -- and while you're at it, use that match to light up a cigarette.

Chad King draws from "sad" singer-songwriters like Nick Drake, or more recently, Hayden or Stephen Merritt at his most sincere. His melancholic country-folk sound often has a slightly haze and echo to it that brings to mind mid-period Byrds (especially some of the David Crosby-penned songs) or Skip Spence, for example. It's also pretty lo-fi, and I wouldn't have had it any other way, as it effectively lends itself to the personal nature of the subject matter. But it also helps to mask some of the vocals, and if I had one complaint, it would be that the package didn't include a lyric sheet or booklet, because I would have liked to follow along and recover some of the words that my aging ears were unable to make out.

That is a small complaint, however. There are a million ways to screw up this "11 songs, 11 girls" concept, but Chad King has made a poignant, frequently affecting record that is capable of uncovering new meaning for the listener with each spin.



MTQ @ indiepages.com
This is Chad's second release on Keep, although it's the first I've heard from him. On first listen, I was ready to put him in the Elliott Smith-alike category, but there's a bit more to his songs than the other scores of quiet singer/songwriters around today. Yes, he sounds very similar, with his sweet and fragile songs, but many of these songs have layers of other instruments within, like banjo, violin or pedal-steel guitar. In fact, this is kind of like a male counterpart to the last Rose Melberg record. Each of the songs are about (or at least named for) a different girl, with some of the better tunes including "Angela" and "Cecile". Plus, like many of the Keep titles, the disc's packaging is gorgeous - this one made to look like a matchbook! This is a good record to pull out when you're feeling rather melancholic. | MTQ = 8/11



Jeff Marsh @ Delusions of Adequacy
Chad King has the kind of voice other singer/songwriters surely dream of. While always sounding unique, King is able to change his voice to suit his song, sounding as comfortable in his country-infused tracks as moody singer/songwriter numbers, up-beat rockers, and even jazz- or folk-influenced songs. He's to be commended, however, that he doesn't fall prey to indecision, becoming a musical doppelganger in changing styles at a whim. This album remains cohesive, despite its variety of influences and musical direction, and while some of that is based on its theme, most is based on King's songwriting sensibilities.

The theme of Well, Hell, King's second solo album (he's also the frontman of the slow-core-esque NYC band Hula), centers around women. With each of the 11 songs bearing a female¹s name, it¹s hard to say if Well, Hell is King's ode to women he¹s loved and lost or merely a narrative tied together by the women who flow throughout. Because there's love songs here, songs of loss, and optimistic songs of hope, and they help the album feel cohesive even while King's styles flow from song to song.

The album opens with one of its most striking tracks, the incredibly rich "Alma", which has a deep sheen of reverb and studio effects to give it a slightly echoed, chiming quality. "Cecile" shows his country influences, using pedal steel to give the song a unique twang while still flowing along a gorgeous Nick Drake-ish style. Banjo brings out that sound on "Sandy", and female vocals offer a moving accompaniment. The vocal style on "Angela" could stand up with the vocalists of decades come and gone, clearly shining on this track that feels like it could be an old standard.

The dark and rich "Heather" is a highlight, a stark and quietly evocative number that adds in some electric guitar (and well-placed whistling). On "Maria", King infuses his song with a dark country feel that perfectly incorporates strings into the mix, perhaps bringing to mind artists like Calexico or Black Heart Procession, and "Naiomi" startles with a slow-paced but highly moving track deep with feeling. The album closes with another stand-out, the stark "Estelle", which seems to strip off the studio sheen from King's voice, showing a more world-weary feel that diminishes its effectiveness not a bit.

King is a highly effective and endearing singer/songwriter who has managed to fly under the radar, perhaps because he's not simply aping the style of forerunners like Elliott Smith. Instead, he has his own style, his own powerful and evocative voice, and he uses it effortlessly, spinning lovely and moving songs with grace and passion. Here's hoping he finds a wider audience to enjoy these songs.



J-Sin @ Smother.net
The talent of the Keep Recordings roster alone almost seems to demand that they should be selling CDs like hotcakes. One such talented musician under their umbrella is Chad King. A singer/songwriter by trade he looks to emote harmonies with sincere inflection and sparse arrangements that are actually quite mind-boggling. Indie pop fans will be set on fire when they listen to this album—yes it’s that damn hot, boiling over with rich harmonies and lushly stroked guitars.



Chris @ Gorilla vs. Bear
My ears are still ringing from SXSW (seriously), so I've been listening to a lot of Chad King in the last couple of days. His new record (due out March 28) is a "breakthrough bedroom symphony" made up of 11 beautifully melancholy songs, each named after a different girl.

I'm a sucker for some depressing pedal steel, and this track oozes sadness, but the hushed vocals are warm and reassuring. Recommended for fans of Iron & Wine (obvious comparison), The Beach Boys, and Merle Haggard.



Ben @ The Speed of Silence
About a week or so ago, I received an unexpected package from Keep Recordings which contained Well, Hell from Chad King. Keep's the home of a pretty impressive stable of artists (Morning Spy, J. Tillman, Tony Moreno) and several others I'm not too familiar with, but will be looking much further into now. Right out of the envelope, the album's matchbook-style sleeve (and a button, no less!) were a very nice and interesting touch, and Keep's site indicates that going the extra mile on things like packaging and artwork are an integral part of why they do what they do.

While Ii'd not heard King's music before, this whole album felt right at home down in the dumps with the better end of the low-down, dirt-in-my-beer singer-songwriters of the last few years. After listening to the album all the way through, I wasn't surprised to see that all the tracks are titled only by women's names, and while each works to form a cohesive album, the stories involved aren't trite stories of love lost or gained.

King's voice is clear and deep, and fits the mood of each song. I found myself occassionally comparing certain vocal tones and deliveries to those of Stephen Merritt of the Magnetic Fields, but it's a few passing moments and definitely not the overall sound of the vocals. The instrumentation runs from the usual solo acoustic work to lap-steel guitar to dark country-rock that had me thinking back to the best moments of early Toad The Wet Sprocket circa pale, believe it or not. Hearing the banjo plinking along on "Sandy" made me think of Beat the Indie Drum's banjo mix from a bit back.



Craig @ songs:illinois
Yesterday I wrote about an EP called For The Heathers (songs about women named Heather by the band Baby Teeth) now we have a new song by Chad King of the band Hula entitled "Heather". It's an obsessive portrait of a man in love sung in a hushed voice behind velvet curtains. The melody is a lilting, jaunty, sad little thing that is repeated throughout the song through guitar and whistle.

The new record is called Well, Hell. And is a followup to his solo debut Love Your Engine. Well, Hell consists of 13 songs about women so expect even more broken hearts and failed relationships when this is released some time in March on Keep Recordings.