• News

• All

Sep 28, 2022 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Vanessa Valdez

Early next month, Chicago-based indie producer and singer/songwriter Chaepter is set to share his forthcoming debut full-length album, Kicking The Cat. Earlier this year, he released the Nobody Died EP, introducing his hazy mix of bedroom R&B, shoegaze, and grunge, and his latest effort is set to expand on this sound, incorporating it into a record Chaepter has described as “Midwest Gothic.”

Ahead of the record’s full release, Chaepter has shared a video for its lead single, “Ritual,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“Ritual” acts as a perfect introduction to Chaepter’s decadent dreamy haze. The instrumental revolves around looping arpeggiated keys, tinged by celestial synth beds, bleary lo-fi percussion, and Cheaepter’s glassy vocals. As the pieces of the instrumental overlap within the mix, you can’t help but fall into the track’s alluring hypnotic heart, as if invited into a labrinthine maze of cloudy melodies.

Chaepter says of the track, “A year or so ago I got obsessed with the song ‘On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)’ by Burton Lane and what I interpreted from it: We’re all living in a fast-paced insane foggy push, and then some days that fog clears and you can see what’s really going on around you, what’s driving you to pursue the things you’re chasing, what matters, and what doesn’t. Then the next day you’re back in the fog. That’s what ‘Ritual’ is about - the weird little cycles and rituals we have that we don’t always think about, whether it be relationships, dependencies, or obsessive actions. But when we have those clear days, their places in our lives seem so obvious. It’s also a little bit of a love song.”

He continues, saying of the accompanying video, “Last summer I bought an old camcorder to use for my music videos, and I’ve been compiling the shots for the ‘Ritual’ video since then. Using a camcorder makes it easy because really anyone can operate one, so I usually just ask friends to help shoot me, it’s all very homegrown. For this video, I used locations in the city as well as in the country around where I grew up.”

Check out the song and video below. Kicking The Cat is out October 7th.