CHAI - WINK ALBUM REVIEW

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This one sparks joy.


I honestly am not familiar with CHAI’s previous work and who they are. I’ve heard some singles from this project here, and they worked with JPEGMAFIA on the last Gorillaz album Song Machine - Season One: Strange Timez, which has definitely grown on me. The Peggy/CHAI collab is one of my favorites off that project, and since I already know about Peggy, I should wait to see what happens with CHAI in the future. Lo and behold, that new project is here. WINK is the name, and indie-pop is CHAI’s game. Let’s get into it.

WOW, this thing is weird. First, the production is pretty nice. It’s nice to hear elements of future funk in a major album release, and it honestly gives me hope for that subgenre. The opening track “Donuts Mind if I Do” is relaxing and quite catchy. There are a lot of elements of dance in “Nobody Knows We Are Fun” and “IN PINK,” “END” is a legitimately strange track in the best ways possible, and “PING PONG” has some chiptune vibes that are so legitimately fun. The biggest problem for me here is some of the vocals. On some of the tracks, it feels like some of their vocals are just buried under the sounds. I really like the more chill tracks where you can hear their voices clearly and there are some genuinely beautiful performances from all four of them here.

Is WINK the best album I’ve ever heard? No. Is it bad? Not even close. Even if they’ve been making albums since 2017, CHAI might have their big breakout with WINK. The combination of J-pop, city pop, dance, and even some disco prove how versatile a group can be. WINK was definitely a pleasant listen, and you should listen to it!


7/10



Listen here

YouTube Music




WINK is a Sub Pop release.

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