Starting 2024 off strong with their second EP, Belfast based post-punk trio Chalk have cemented their place in the Irish and UK music scene with four new encapsulating tracks.
With praise from the likes of NME, Dork and DIY Magazine, the trio have showcased their relentlessness through an industrial lens with their signature sound. Playing festivals this year such as Reading and Leeds, Reeperbahn Festival and Eurosonic, the group are on a steady incline, after successfully completing their biggest UK headline tour to date in the UK with a number of sold out shows as well as winning ‘Best Live Act’ at the NI Music Prize 2023.
From the introduction track, ‘The Gate’, we are met with an immediate sense of who this band is, with a strong backbeat from drummer, Luke Niblock, and electrifying rhythms, they simply aren’t holding back. From first glance, we hear the influences of the Dublin music scene with Gilla Band’s impressionism meeting Fontaines DC’s monotone vocal melodies; the blend of the two giving Chalk the thrilling sound that is an addicting industrial post-punk feel.
Carrying on from this, ‘Claw’ feels like a continuation of this gritty and enticing feel with elements you’d find at the Berlin rave scene. These first two tracks show the band’s monochromatic tone with the addition of producer Chris Ryan’s signature sound (who has produced other successful Irish artists such as NewDad and Just Mustard). Chalk delves into a much more impressionistic and slightly sinister sound with ‘Kevlar’ which is carried solely by Benedict Goddard’s eerie synth accompanied by Ross Cullen’s vocals.
The lyricism throughout the entirety of this second EP is a continuation of the raw themes that the band tend to encapsulate, such as loss, relief and vulnerability. Chalk leaves us on a high note with ‘Bliss’ with what feels like an 80’s upbeat goth piece, once again. Sonically, the guitar tone resembles that of a heavy New Order influence. With the addition of ‘Fears’ aka Constance Keane, the two vocalists give us a back and forth conversational flow interpreting a love story between two past lovers seeing each other for the first time since. A bitter-sweet feeling to leave us on.
This release has shown the band’s progression and has naturally followed their first EP, ‘Conditions’, with the evolution of their sound, they are the perfect soundtrack to a postmodern dystopia.
