Gonzo by Chilly Gonzales
After 12 years of instrumental albums (ranging from a pair of Solo Pianos, chamber music, collaborative albums with Boys Noize, Jarvis Cocker and Plastikman and even a best-selling Christmas record), Chilly Gonzales has a lot to get off his chest.
The notebooks that sat unfilled since 2011’s orchestral rap opus “The Unspeakable Chilly Gonzales” started to fill up again in early 2022 after ending a lengthy decade of psychoanalysis. Coincidence? Hardly.
Behind the wordplay and name-dropping (Ron Jeremy, Marie Kondo, Genghis Khan and Phillip Glass to cite a few) the songs that made it to the new album Gonzo reveal an ongoing tension between persuasion and confession, delusion and self-awareness and finally, gratitude. The tension between creativity and commerce also continues to be a career-long exploration for Gonzo.
But is this truly a rap album? Instrumental pieces such as the Stravinsky-esque “Fidelio” or the tearjerking “Eau de Cologne” will remind listeners of Gonzo’s extravagant “musical genius” persona, as the words and rhymes from previous verses settle into their ears.
Tracklist
| 1. | Gonzo | 3:23 |
| 2. | Surfing the Crowd | 5:31 |
| 3. | High as a Kite | 3:47 |
| 4. | Fidelio | 5:20 |
| 5. | Open the Kimono (feat. Bruiser Wolf) | 3:40 |
| 6. | Neoclassical Massacre | 4:07 |
| 7. | Cadenza | 1:18 |
| 8. | F*ck Wagner | 3:03 |
| 9. | I.C.E. | 3:28 |
| 10. | Eau de Cologne | 3:04 |
| 11. | Poem | 3:07 |
Credits
PRODUCTION INFORMATION
Producer : Renaud Letang
Mixer : Renaud Letang
Engineer: Nicolas Frey - Studios Ferber, Paris
Mastering: Bernie Grundman - Bernie Grundman Mastering
Vinyl Lacquer cut by: Bernie Grundman - Bernie Grundman Mastering
Artwork: Yannick Levaillant
Cover & Back cover photos: Victor Picon
Inside photos: Alexandre Isard
MUSICIANS INFORMATION
Chilly Gonzales on vocals & keyboards
Stella Le Page on cello & backing vocals
Yannick Hiwat on 7-string Mezzoviolin
Taylor Savvy on bass
Joe Flory on drums
Renaud Letang on additional percussion & programming
Thanks to
Peaches for backing vocals on 'Gonzo'
Francis Salvator for being train passenger on 'I.C.E.'
PUBLISHING INFORMATION
All Songs Written by Jason “Chilly Gonzales” Beck
Published by Gentle Threat Ltd (SACEM) except
Open the Kimono (feat. Bruiser Wolf)
Written by Jason “Chilly Gonzales” Beck and Devaul Deniro Neal
Published by Gentle Threat Ltd (SACEM) and
I.C.E.
Written by Jason “Chilly Gonzales” Beck and Malakoff Kowalski
Published by Gentle Threat Ltd (SACEM) / Edition It Sounds / Universal Music Publishing (GEMA)
(p) 2024 Gentle Threat Ltd.
