Nick Murphy / Chet Faker - Run Fast Sleep Naked


Nick Murphy / Chet Faker
Run Fast Sleep Naked
2019
Spotify

It's always been a bit of a mystery why Nick Murphy has kept his feet on two sides of the fence. After suddenly ditching his stage name Chet Faker for his real name Nick Murphy his music has similarity gone under it;s own evolution. While the songs as Chet had this electro-soul vibe to them, dancey and always focused on evoking this sensual ambiance. Those things seem to fall away with age and the name change. This album feels far more wide open and experienced than anything Murphy has done before. "Harry Takes Drugs on the Weekend" has this wonderful bop to it that isn't beholden to some dance beat and instead the song is given this space to find new areas of exploration. The song itself instead of celebrating or demonizing Harry's drug use, tries to understand it and find meaning in it all. Are all these things we do to "let loose" just more mind experiments, more ways for us to grow even though we might not be seeing it. "Sanity" somewhat recaptures that same vibe he found on his biggest song "Gold" which spun countless remixes. His last release as Nick Murphy felt like He was really trying to push things, make himself so different from Chet Faker that no one would really notice. However, notice they did, and the record fell pretty flat. Run Fast Sleep Naked though feels like some of those expectations have been ditched for a more open feel, Nick is willing to accept help from outside influences to get the sound He wants rather than drilling into his head as deeply as possible alone in his room.

A lot of this album feels like Father John Misty type of songwriting, but far less pretentious and obsessed with saying something witty. That is not to say that he still doesn't indulge his experimental side sometimes like at the end of "Some People" which dives into this electronic wormhole only to be shot out into wide open space. The way that "Novocaine and Coca Cola" drones on for almost seven minutes is a bit absurd, just sort of allowing disparate noises to jump in and out until eventually closing the song with a simple click. "Never No" is this sweeping track that swells and builds almost like Tourist, but not nearly as techno driven. "Dangerous" also has this wonderful smoldering quality to it, begging you to sing along as Nick tries to make sense of his life and where it has gone. On "Believe (Me)" He gets a little to Bon Iver for his own good with the effected vocals and minimalist track backing him up. Run Fast Sleep Naked is a wonderful surprise for someone who has seemed a bit desperate to let their true voice pierce through. The name change is still awkward, but at least now we can see why it happened, so that this album could shine.

8.3 out of 10

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