KCRW Track Premiere: CHAPPO “Cry On Me”

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The most powerful thing about music is its profound ability to alter the mood of those who encounter it. Who among us hasn’t at some point cast a certain song in the role of best friend, significant other, or perhaps therapist? To discover that a song has served all of those purposes to its creator as well is always thrilling; songwriters, they’re just like us!

The members of CHAPPO have certainly been through a lot since the 2015 release of their second album Future Former Self. Much of this is detailed in the quote from frontman Alex Chappo below. To present a track as buoyant, and life affirming as “Cry on Me,” in the face of tragedy is an incredible feat that CHAPPO has tackled with tremendous grace. The warm/relaxed yet pristine style from producer John Vanderslice (whose famed studio Tiny Telephone the band used to record their forthcoming album DO IT) shines through, to ensure that “Cry on Me” will take its rightful place as a glorious anthem for catharsis.

“The idea for this song came from this feeling that we culturally see crying as a weakness. I was feeling extreme emotions with the loss of my best friend a year earlier and crying sometimes out of the blue. Certain situations would move me in a way that hadn’t in the past. I was also appreciating the beauty of it all. It felt real, I felt alive. I was trying to infuse this song with the same feelings of joy and heartbreak that were spiraling around me when I got a call from Chris. He told me that Dave and Nicole had lost their son (Winter) two days before his birthdate. I started to cry again. A few days later, Nicole was over at ours during his memorial and she apologized for crying on my shoulder. And I said “never be ashamed” and I really just wanted to find a way to capture those feelings. There’s a part in the song that says “choo-choo train where shall we go?” I thought of it as this helpless feeling when we’re sort of at life’s beck and call and aren’t sure where we’re going. We just know we need to get away from the chaos of our lives to gain a new perspective. Eventually, I wanted this song to be a celebration of your own vulnerability, the freedom to fully embrace and accept the moment. But I wanted it to be a warm embrace.”

DO IT is out on February 23 via Votiv Music.

(photo c/o Drew Reynolds)