Chessie + Contriva - Black Jacket [Watusi Records 009]

Two bands. Two cities. Two continents. Countless mutual visits and 25 years of friendship and collaboration. Chessie and Contriva. Berlin and Washington, DC. Europe and North America. And finally: "Black Jacket". A collaborational album. Released via Watusi Records on April 10th, 2k26. Twelve tracks deep and nearly 53 minutes long. A sonic excursion into raw - read as: mostly unprocessed and organic - and at the same time tender PostRock adjacent territories opening with the dreamy, timeless, somehow soothing and yet hypnotic "Take Me To Hiddensee" before progressing into the instrumental uptempo Indie / IndiePop of "Magenta", the surprisingly 4/4 bassdrum driven SlowHouse x Indietronica x PostRock fusion for early morning Ambient x Chillout dancefloors named "Vermilion" and the darker late night Downbeat x NotHop grooves of "Cabina A". With "Hellblau" Chessie + Contriva aim for minimalist, yet complex grooves and an overall light-hearted and guitar-led melodic attitude, "Point No Point" sees them on a more muscular tip with heavy reverberating drums and a certified Indie feel kicking in after the intro whilst "Brunswick Green" feels like slowly wandering lush meadows on a calm early summer day and "Lunar White" provides a cozy, slighty improvisational and obviously electronically backed soundtrack for late and lazy Sunday afternoons. Furthermore "Capital Traction" is somewhat of a brittle, slightly off-harmonic and sonically decaying take on introspective PostRock paired with obscure and somewhat muffled musical anti-structures buried deep in the background of the mixdown whilst "Celadon" once again harks back to positive and driving instrumental Indie(Rock) underground vibes with a dynamic, yet slightly twangy touch subsequently followed by "Dalecarlia Always", most likely the most inward-looking and romantic outing on "Black Jacket", before the concluding "Fugitive" opens with rather raw electronic synths only to drift off into a worldof ever spiralling krautsiness in PostRock. Lovely. Go check.

Album artwork on Instagram!