Now Playing: Chad Valley ft. Glasser – ‘Fall 4 U’
Chad Valley - Young Hunger
Now Playing – every week, a roundtable of our writers will give their views on one of the recently-released new tracks. It’s as simple as that! If you want to tell us what you think of the song, feel free to leave a comment below.
Track: ‘Fall 4 U’ by Chad Valley feat. Glasser
Average grade: 4.3
Kenneth: Made me think of Yuppies and Sade which is never a good thing but after the first 2 minutes things improve as the music comes more to the fore. Not long after, however, the keyboard parts become annoyingly strident so my small flash of enthusiasm fizzled out. 1/10
Tom: Chad Valley have been consistently described as ‘chillwave’ but, as well as perpetuating lazy, music journalist nonsense, this label doesn’t tell you much about their music. They are all about soul-inflected, icy, Style Council-esque vocals, synth hooks and endless drum machines. It’s sleepy, dream-world music, but almost anti-original in its slavish replication of past styles. This music wasn’t good enough first time around, and nothing has changed nearly 30 years on. Come on Valley, at least try to sound like you’ve had some ideas of your own! 3/10
James: Good to hear Blessing Force chugging along in such sophisticated fashion. There’s a great balance between Chad Valley and Glasser here – enough Hugo Manuel to showcase his effortless production with the right amount of dominance from Mesirow to keep the listener intrigued. Bring on the album. 7/10
Richard: This is a beautiful track, reminding me strongly of a melodramatic pop sensation chirping optimism in Thatcher’s Grey Britain. Yes, this has an old school eighties vibe, but the share vibrancy of ‘Fall 4 U’ means that this isn’t a regression back to better days. 8/10
Linda: I can quite put my finger on it, but this track just doesn’t cut it for me. It’s too smooth, overproduced, and seems to miss a much needed hook. 5/10
Stuart: When Sade’s ‘Diamond Life’ came out in ’84, it was roundly dismissed by sniffy critics as coffee table music of the lowest order. In retrospect, the criticism of the time was misjudged and the album now stands as a slow soul-pop classic. Maybe in twenty-plus years, Chad Valley’s ‘Fall 4 U’ will be subject to such a reappraisal. But, for now, and for this reviewer, ‘Fall 4 U’ is coffee table music of the lowest order for a new generation. And that bloody chiming synth sounds like an aural premonition of the tinnitus I’m sure to suffer in my later years: turn it down! 2/10
Stef: Really love those full vocals at the start. Those high pitched tingling sounds though, they pierce right through my ears. That contrast is so big, it could fit a whale. 4/10
