Months on from revealing that he would once again be releasing new music as Chet Faker, Nick Murphy has announced the project’s first new record in over seven years.
Dubbed Hotel Surrender, the new record follows on from the previously-released tracks “Low” and “Get High”, and emerged out of the difficult year that has been. Recording the majority of the record in March of 2020 as New York City went into full COVID lockdown, Murphy was soon hit with the death of his father, resulting in the completion process taking on new meaning as he sought to use his music to seek a level of happiness and clarity.
“There were a lot of heavy perspective shifters for me,” Murphy recalls. “I really just thought of the music in a different light. I look at it as a mass therapy now. I think I used to see it as this plight, like I was on a crusade or this creative odyssey.
“Now I see that it’s more Shamanistic. You’ve got to find some light—or sometimes dark, whatever’s right—and share it. I realised that was the heart of the Chet Faker project. And I felt like the world was hurting, so I thought, ‘I can do a small something to give people some joy.”
Set for release on July 16th, the record is a mesmerising showcase of Murphy’s talent, and a stunning collection of the considered, ethereal compositions that only the Chet Faker name could adorn. To celebrate the news of the record’s upcoming arrival, Murphy has also unveiled new single “Whatever Tomorrow”, which addresses our future’s ambivalence head-on.
“It’s a rebellion to this idea that you have to wait for the things you need,” Murphy explains. “It felt like we were being sold tomorrow and we were paying for today. I was saying, ‘Fuck your tomorrow, we deserve our lives now.'”
Chet Faker’s “Whatever Tomorrow” is out now, while Hotel Surrender will be released on July 16th via Detail Records/BMG, with pre-orders available now.
