Few things in life are more mentally draining than emotional purgatory, be it unrequited love, the patience required for plans to come to fruition – even something as simple as moving house requires a suspension of excitement, substituted for stress. It is this patience, or the lack thereof, that forms the basis of Chartreuse’s new single ‘Three Days.’ Centered on the simple premise of having to ‘wait three days to spend my life with you,’ Chartreuse weaves a groovy, accessible tapestry that’s dramatic and ferocious whilst also being intimate and heartfelt. It’s a fantastically achieved balancing act.
Soulful, slow, patiently played and stripped to the bare essentials, the track’s instrumental scans like a bluesier, wilder version of Cigarettes After Sex. Knotty guitars and sterile keys are sprinkled throughout, intertwining with some tight vocal interplay. It’s a song one can see Tom Misch approving of, and maybe even being a little jealous. Wagstaff’s voice has a husky, King Krule-esque quality to it that Misch lacks. It is at times subtle and understated, at others wild and rife with sensual vibrato. Nothing sells emotion like some good old fashioned wailing.
The song is largely straightforward up until it kicks into its coda. At this point, tense ascending strings and swirling atonal birdlike noises bring a real roundhouse kick of an ending. This makes for a great dramatic shift that really hammers home the longing conveyed by the vocals. The feeling is described as ‘ridiculous’ at one point, coinciding perfectly with a drum fill, and it’s a brilliantly self-aware moment.
Few songs are this immediately likable. We’re spoiled for choice when it comes to new soulful ballads coming through from unsigned artists, but Chartreuse is something truly special. ’Three Days’ is a simple but effective song with fat stacks of character, a head-bobbing groove, and sensational performances, and you should listen to it as soon as possible.
‘Three Days’ is out now via PIAS – available to Stream/Purchase here.
