Del Water Gap Chasing The Chimera Album Review

By Kayla Harper

Del Water Gap’s new album, Chasing The Chimera, came out this Friday, November 7.  The third full-length album from the Brooklyn-based indie pop solo artist, S. Holden Jaffe (Del Water Gap) brings his confessional ballads to an even more vulnerable place than ever before –diving into the intricacies of adulthood, chasing childhood dreams and of course “figuring out how to live” (“How To Live”, Chasing The Chimera).

Jaffe unofficially announced a new album would be coming out this fall at the show I attended in Calgary, Alberta this summer, taking to Instagram on September 5 to officially announce the album’s title, cover and release date and tracklist.  I had listened to a couple songs prior when Del Water Gap was announced to be opening for Bleachers at the Calgary Stampede, however, my first real exposure to him was at this show and let’s just say I was blown away.

I instantly became hooked on every song he was playing, even learning some of the words and singing along as the show went on.  It’s been about half a year since then and I am even more invested in Del Water Gap and am excited to be experiencing this new album release.

Chasing The Chimera is the soundtrack to candlelit contemplation leading to revelations of who you’ve been, who you are and who you want to be.  While the album maintains the indie-pop/alt-rock style established by the previous projects, it’s more mature and reflective which shines through beyond the lyrics in the subtle jazz influence that fuses it’s way into the background, remaining consistent throughout the entire project.

The deep confessions revealed in the lyrics of songs like “Please Follow”, “Waiting On The Day”, “Damn” and “Eagle In The Nest” to name a few, are comparable to the likes of Gracie Abrams and Phoebe Bridgers -it arises through an introspective thought-process before arriving at a gut-punching conclusion.  We get to listen in on the whole thing play out, watching as the tone shifts over the course of verses and choruses leaving us to revel in the outcome as the instrumental carries us away in the winds of wisdom as reality sinks in.

It’s best revealed in the lead single, “How To Live”, that Chasing The Chimera is the kind of album that couldn’t have been made earlier,  it’s the result of years of trial and error in many facets of life -romance, happiness, dreams, success- really we can arrive at the realization that none of us are very different and although the dream might be, the chimera we’re chasing through the dynamic melodies and lyrics is the fulfillment every person wants to achieve in life.

That being said without those years of failure and small successes, an album with so much introspective detail and honesty like this one could not have been as effectively written.  It truly reflects the cliche life is lessons, but in a brand new way.

Jaffe has an intriguing way with words never failing to draw listeners in with the most surprising metaphors -the kind of unexpected comparison that makes you tilt your head, pondering what exactly he means by it- a compliment to any writer of the poetic form (lyrics included).  His effective use of well thought-out complex figurative device blended with blunt statements of his response to them makes these tracks digestible to a wider audience. A personal favourite example of this on the album is “I’m an apple she can chew me, it’s a miracle she’d choose me” (“Small Town Joan Of Arc”), however this is a technique he utilizes consistently.

Despite the emotionally heavy and vulnerable connotations of the introspective lyrics and theme, Chasing The Chimera is instrumentally light, memories floating above, thoughts drifting through the air before settling in one place. It is that moment where you realize why that relationship went wrong, why that job didn’t work out, and finally feel free in the clarity.  It’s a cycle that repeats itself, for as long as we’re alive we’re Chasing The Chimera.