Del Water Gap has never made things easy for himself. With the release of his latest album, pointedly titled Chasing the Chimera, you can’t help but wonder what elusive dream he’s pursuing. The record is a lesson in the unattainable; chasing the impossible, the illusory, the fantastical. Chasing the Chimera doesn’t claim to offer answers; instead, it invites us deeper into the mystery, daring to leave us with even more questions.
Del Water Gap excelled as S. Holden Jaffe’s solo project back in 2018 with the release of his single ‘High Tops’. After that, Jaffe’s talent for inquisitive and nostalgic songwriting has grown from strength to strength. Now, we have been graced with his latest album, two years on from the last and it was certainly worth the wait.
Chasing the Chimera is an album packed with mid-tempo indie pop songs that cross multiple genres. Some songs tick boxes for jazz, soul, and ballads, whilst some reflect the current landscape of indie pop made up of Conan Gray and Benson Boone. Regardless of genre, Jaffe’s unique storytelling shines throughout each of the 12 songs on the record.
Lead single ‘How to Live’ falls into a similar category to his previous releases. An idiosyncratic mid-tempo song—too upbeat for a slow song and too slow for an upbeat song—shows he has not lost his ability to write infectious melodies. “I know too much it’s freaking me out / There’s gold under the rust” speaks of the good fighting to stay on. It feels raw and electric.
The following two tracks, ‘Please Follow’, and ‘Eastside Girls’, venture into fairly new territory for Jaffe. Heavier synths and stronger basslines centre around the song that we perhaps don’t recognise. He creates a mould of a hybrid world that combines the chord sequences of jazz, with the catchy melodies of pop. ‘Eastside Girls’ takes this jazz and reveals an honest dive into loneliness and blurry nights in bars. The track features a subtle brass section, invoking a feeling of community before ending with the lyrics “I’m alone again”. It’s a stark juxtaposition that feels appropriate for an album aiming to chase the impossible.
The slower songs on the record ‘We Don’t Have to Take it Slow’ do just that. Stripped back to a piano, this track becomes a ballad with a spotlight on Jaffe’s falsetto notes that are delivered with a haunting quality. It feels like we are stripping him bare and seeing all of him.
Synths make a comeback for ‘Never Speak Again’, in a breakup song that feels optimistic (“You were always the better of us two”), whilst ‘Damn’ creates an overarching feeling of preparing to flee, as the lyrics “that’s what it’s like to be free” are repeated on top of an optimistic and bouncing guitar.
The closing song on the record ‘Eagle in my Nest’ is a final blow to the gut. Jaffe has written a love song with completely new depths here: a platonic love song written for his own mother. It’s accompanied by a gentle acoustic guitar, that builds up and speaks mainly about the start of life. Hints of existentialism drip throughout his lyrics: “It’s so hard being alive / No wonder everyone dies” and “what a shame to be born”. This closing track captures a truly beautiful sentiment.
Del Water Gap has tried his hand at chasing the impossible, yet, in exposing his rawest emotions, he comes close to grasping something tangible.
Words by Lucy Bower
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