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Felt (The Chain Gang of 1974 album)

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Felt
A shallow-color saturated image of a man sitting on a stool in a room filled with fallen leaves, juxtaposed against a dark grey wall.
Studio album by
The Chain Gang of 1974
ReleasedJune 23, 2017 (2017-06-23)
Recorded2016–17
GenreElectronic rock
Length36:11
LabelCaroline
ProducerThom Powers
The Chain Gang of 1974 chronology
Daydream Forever
(2014) 		Felt
(2017)

Felt is a studio album by American musician Kamtin Mohager, released under his indietronica moniker, The Chain Gang of 1974. It is the fourth studio album by The Chain Gang of 1974, and the second album released under a major label, on June 23, 2017, through Virgin Records subsidiary Caroline Records.

Composition

Mohager described Felt as an exploration of "love, heartbreak, infidelity, addiction, death, [and] family", stating that the album was him openly discussing "the feelings of [his] past."[1] In composing what Mohager felt was the most "honest" album he's created, he deemed Felt to be an album that represented him "as a human being."[2] The second track on Felt, "Wallflowers", was inspired by an idea Mohager had of "two people only being able to be with each other in their dreams. While awake, they are forced to be separate. But in their dreams, they're able to travel to one another and live in a made up world. A fantasy land of sorts."[1]

The album's third track, "I Still Wonder", was characterized as "moody and upbeat" with an "’80s vibe" by Brian Leak of Substream Magazine.[3] Mohager stated that the song "focuses on infidelity, and how physical desire can slowly transform into love", further exploring the song's themes by writing, "Sometimes you have no control over who you fall in love with. Even when you’ve been living with certain morals for your entire life, someone can come around and change everything. I fell for a girl that I wasn’t supposed to fall for. The guilt will always win, leaving the relationship torn, but with time your mind will always go back and think, “What if?” A lot of the time, due to fear, there is never any closure. This song touches on that."[3]

Recording

Thom Powers of The Naked and Famous co-wrote and produced the album.

Felt was recorded with producer Thom Powers, from The Naked and Famous.[4] While Mohager and The Naked and Famous have performed together on occasions since 2012, it took Powers to "[reach] out on a very humble level" to Mohager for a musical relationship between the two to start.[1] Powers' involvement in Felt started in 2015, when Mohager demoed a few songs he had written for a potential new album to him, and afterwards started to write songs together for a year, before heading into the studio to record and produce the album itself.[1] Mohager himself deemed Powers to be the "perfect producer for this album", describing him as a "key factor in pushing me to be more confident with my songwriting, even to the point where he encouraged me to start taking vocal lessons and learning more about my craft."[1] The album's fourth track, "Forget", features guest vocals from The Naked and Famous' lead singer Alisa Xayalith.[2]

Promotion

In late 2016, two tracks that would eventually appear on Felt were released on singles and extended plays while the album was still being recorded. "I Still Wonder", the album's third track,[3] and "Slow", the opening track, were released in September and November 2016 respectively – the latter accompanied by a music video which premiered on Billboard and features Curt Smith of Tears for Fears.[5] The video, comprising a single long take, was described by director Morgan Freed as a "showcase [of Mohager] as what he is: an artist telling a story." Mohager stated that the collaboration with Smith was "surreal moment", himself being a follower of Tears for Fears, saying "to see Curt singing one of my songs is something I will never forget."[5][6]

After the two songs were premiered, they became setlist staples of The Chain Gang of 1974's live performances in North America as a supporting act for The Naked and Famous' tour for Simple Forms in late 2016,[3] and in winter 2017 for both AFI's tour supporting their eponymous tenth album,[7] and a headlining tour shortly after.[6] Other then-unreleased songs written for the album were also played during their performances, such as "Wallflowers" and "Human".[8][9][10] "Wallflowers" was later released in March 2017,[4] accompanying the official announcement of Felt, its track listing and release date of June 23, 2017, with pre-orders active for the album's digital and vinyl versions; no compact disc version of the album was released.[1][2] The music video for "Wallflowers" was released in may, presented in a documentary-style format chronicling the love story of an Iranian girl battling cancer, whose family immigrated to the United States, and a boy who grew up in Orange County, California.[11] The inspiration for the video came from Mohager's own feeling that "Wallflowers" was "bigger than [him]; a story needed to be told with the song serving solely as its soundtrack", and thus sought to create a video that represents love, care, and "all of us."[11][12]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[13]

Critical reception

Matt Collar of AllMusic, in a positive review of the album, marked it as "far more clear-eyed, thematically and musically focused album" than Mohager's previous albums, while commenting that Felt was not a "departure", but rather a "distillation of the most potent elements of the band's sound." Collar additionally noted that the more emotionally-driven style worked in the album's favour, concluding that the record was "a big, joyous, confident album -- but it's a confidence dusted with pathos."[13]

Track listing

All tracks produced by Thom Powers.[13]

Felt[14]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Slow"Kamtin Mohager · Thom Powers4:20
2."Wallflowers"Mohager · Powers · Austin Tirado3:56
3."I Still Wonder"Mohager · Powers · Tirado4:37
4."Forget" (featuring Alisa Xayalith)Mohager · Powers · Alisa Xayalith5:06
5."Looking for Love"Mohager · Powers3:22
6."It Needs You"Mohager · Powers3:28
7."Bliss"Mohager · Powers3:37
8."Human"Mohager · Powers3:49
9."Temptation"Nick Bailey · Mohager · Ryan Ogren · Powers3:56
Total length:36:11

Personnel

Credits adapted from AllMusic.[13]

Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalog no.
United States June 23, 2017 Caroline Records
B06XKJ54CN (vinyl)[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Ralph, Caitlyn (March 24, 2017). "The Chain Gang Of 1974 are not afraid of massive pop music on new single, album—listen". Alternative Press. Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Khatry, Sudipti (March 26, 2017). "The Chain Gang of 1974 Announces New Album Felt for June 2017 Release". mxdwn. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d Leak, Brian (September 8, 2016). "PREMIERE: The Chain Gang Of 1974 returns with "I Still Wonder"". Substream Magazine. Substream Magazine, Inc. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Marotta, Michael (March 24, 2017). "New Sounds: The Chain Gang of 1974 go huge on ambitious new single 'Wallflowers'". Vanyaland. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  5. ^ a b Redfearn, Dominique (November 18, 2016). "Chain Gang of 1974's One-Take 'Slow' Video Includes Tears for Fears Cameo: Exclusive Premiere". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  6. ^ a b Lothspeich, Dustin (February 3, 2017). "The Chain Gang of 1974's Real Genius". KNSD San Diego. National Broadcasting Company. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  7. ^ Dore, Stephanie (February 1, 2017). "AFI Feed The Frenzy Live In Seattle". Seattle Music Insider. SMI (Seattle Music Insider). Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  8. ^ "The Chain Gang of 1974 Setlist at Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, USA". Setlist.fm. November 14, 2016. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  9. ^ "The Chain Gang of 1974 Setlist at The Fox Theater, Oakland, CA, USA". Setlist.fm. January 21, 2017. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  10. ^ "The Chain Gang of 1974 Setlist at Blueberry Hill, St. Louis, MO, USA". Setlist.fm. February 6, 2017. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Volume staff (May 17, 2017). "You've Got To Hear This! The Chain Gang of 1974 premieres unique docu-video for "Wallflowers"". Volume. Volume Magazine & Creative Blog. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  12. ^ Frankel, Jillian (May 17, 2017). "Watch The Chain Gang of 1974's New Docu-Video for 'Wallflowers': Exclusive Premiere". Billboard. Eldridge Industries. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  13. ^ a b c d Collar, Matt (June 23, 2017). "Felt - The Chain Gang of 1974". AllMusic. All Media Network, LLC. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  14. ^ "Felt by The Chain Gang of 1974 on Apple Music". Apple Music US. Apple, Inc. June 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  15. ^ "The Chain Gang of 1974 - FELT [LP]". Amazon.com. Amazon.com, Inc. June 2017. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
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