Callum Sheehan's "chimera": Can "Decadent Electronic Longing" be a New Genre?
My first admission in this post is that I cheated. Well, a little bit. I’ll usually dive right into an album or song and review it with no pretense of research (like Mordechai by Khruangbin), with the perspective that I want to experience the music without having any expectations. Callum Sheehan messaged me and said his music sounds in the vein of FKA Twigs, Bladee, Osquinn, and Frank Ocean. I thought, cool – my knowledge of those artists, despite their popularity, is at about a 1.7 out of 75 on the Richter Scale of music familiarity. So, I did my journalistic due diligence and gave myself a trap/R&B/underground rap upload, like Neo getting a Matrix plug in the back of the neck.
Okay, enough exposition.
Callum Sheehan is an upcoming artist from Ontario, Canada. His new single, “chimera”, will be released on streaming platforms on January 7th and features Aftertaste with Julian Sword. This is a real-time reaction review of “chimera”.
Sound good? Headphones in and volume UP.
Distorted, syrupy vocal effects over a melodic beat that almost feels reflective, like I should be walking down the train tracks in summer at dusk with a heavy heart full of lost love. Is that overdramatic? Nope, not when the vocals kick in and he is explicitly singing about a hurtful love. The intro clicks for me now, the swirling, soft tinges of pensive ambience that preclude the beat.
“But what does it make you feel?!”
These are the words you scream at me from across the internet, as you shatter a drinking glass against the wall for dramatic effect.
Sadness. Longing. Young love. Reflective young love. The rest of the song goes a completely different direction, but the first 45 seconds of “Chimera” carry the same sense of “get lost in the moment” nostalgia that you can find in the first minute and 15 seconds of “BDE Bonus” by Mac Miller.
“I can’t let go of our memories/Watch water flow so far away from me”, he sings. It’s notable that I could feel the sense of nostalgia in the instrumental opening and then his vocals confirm it in the second verse. The featured voice that raps near the end of the song (I’m not sure if this is Aftertaste or Julian Sword) builds an extra layer of electronic sheen as the song nears a close. It gives the production a feel of soft decadence, a low-key lushness. I can see someone sitting in a 15th story window and expressing their memories to the glow of the city streets below, watching tiny amber lights drift through the night while speaking to the city.
I liked it, and now I must dunk my head in a bucket of emotional electronic music the rest of the day to carry on the mood.
“chimera” by Callum Sheehan featuring Aftertaste and Julian Sword releases January 7th. Check it out on Spotify or Apple Music, especially if you have a 15th story loft overlooking a city skyline.
Other Songs by Callum Sheehan to get you bothered:
Artist Links:
Callum Sheehan Bandcamp
Callum Sheehan Instagram
Julian Sword Instagram
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