Chet Faker (real name Nicholas James Murphy) is an Australian songwriter/electronic producer out of Melbourne, Australia. He is a beardy, plaid-garbed exponent of this new breed of singer-songwriter, that takes the precepts of the indie-folk ballad and fuses them with down-tempo, electronic trip hop.
Like Sohn, Oliver Tank, James Blake and Dawn Golden, amongst a teeming crowd of others, Chet Faker is an example of the electronification of the one man band, a Millennial phenomenon that casts a wide net and draws an eclectic haul from the edges and recesses of Electronic Dance Music.
He rose to prominence in 2011 when a cover he had recorded of Blackstreet's "No Diggity" went viral online, having been smattered across a range of music blogs and rising up the ranks to be featured on music reviews sites and attaining the No.1 slot on the respected net-arbiter Hypemachine’s chart.
He then released the “Thinking in Textures” EP to a warm reception from critics, who lauded its loungey, laconic intricacy and refinement. Its single, “I’m Into You” landed a spot on the 2012 Triple J Hottest 100 chart, coming in at a respectable No.24.
In April 2014 he released his highly anticipated debut full-length album “Built On Glass” on the Future Classic label, which also put out his three track collaboration with wildcard Sydney DJ, Flume, the previous year. It was recorded at the Arts House Meat Market Studio in North Melbourne. “Built On Glass” shot to No.1 on the ARIA Charts within a week of its release and wooed international audiences with its single, "Talk Is Cheap".
The album champions Faker’s pioneering R’n’B electronica crossover sound. It is full of low, humming distortions, crackling, intercut samples and loops, and contrasting textures underpinning his crooning, affecting vocals.
Swelling net-popularity as well as collaborations with rising global stars, Flume and Kilo Kish, and remixes of The Temper Trap’s “Trembling Hands” and MR MS’s “Dark Doo Wop” had set the standard for Chet Faker. He was already a recognised name despite not having had a full-length LP come out, a bedroom sampler who had risen to prominence with a little help from Web 2.0. Now he’s the red-bearded trailblazer leading the peloton of neo-soul genre benders and laying the foundations for the vast swathes of aspiring artists to come.
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