One half of ’90s R&B duo Charles & Eddie, Eddie Chacon’s Sundown from earlier this year is a superb affair: an understated, hazy, drowsy, soul/Balearic album, with songs at sleepy tempos made of languid percussion, soul-jazz instrumentation and gently warped synths perfectly framing Chacon’s light, airy soul vocals.
It’s a defiantly retro-influenced album, drawing on funk and soul rhythms with plenty of hints of peak-era Stevie synths as well as some darker nods to the close-up paranoid funk of early ’70s Sly Stone. The mood is soft and loose; the funk is present but it’s gentle and unhurried and there’s a close-up, familiar, easy intimacy to Chacon’s vocals.
The title track is a light, wispy soul stroller, with congas, keys, jazzy flute flourishes and “Secret Life of Plants” synths gently blended together, with Chacon content to deliver his lyrics with restraint and subtlety, as though he’s done enough soul showboating in his career and has found a gentler, more authentic mode of expression.
This soft touch approach is present throughout Sundown, even with the most uptempo moment, single “Holy Hell,” a plush, demure soul-disco winner with the most appealing offhand casual swing to it. Sundown finishes on the soft-edged muted disco-soul of “The Morning Sun,” a sticky, seductive Marvin Gaye Here My Dear-era workout, deceptively loose, perfectly interlocking, the high levels of precision musicianship creating the illusion of a loose and relaxed jam. At eight tracks with just over half an hour running time, Sundown is brief but perfectly formed.
⚪️ Sundown Tracklisting
Eddie Chacon: Sundown (Stones Throw Records / 12" Vinyl + Digital)
1. Step By Step (03:10)
2. Far Away (05:10)
3. Comes and Goes (feat. Logan Hone) (04:06)
4. Sundown (04:48)
5. Holy Hell (03:12)
6. Haunted Memories (05:55)
7. Same Old Song (03:34)
8. The Morning Sun (04:43)
⚪️ Disclosure Statement
This record was not submitted as a promo.
5 Mag Issue 209
Out September 2023
SOUNDS OF THE UNDERGROUND: This was originally published in 5 Mag Issue #209 featuring Alinka, Laseech, Being, Marco Lenzi, the sordid story of the Goldman Sachs CEO’s DJ career and more. Help keep our vibe alive by becoming a member for $2/month and get every issue in your inbox right away!
