premiere: reach your higher self with r&b sensation chanti darling’s dance-tastic new lp

Chanticleer Trü would like yall to know that “R&B ain’t no joke.” As a self-proclaimed retro-futurist, Trü is a walking well of influences, extracting the essential elements of Disco, Boogie Funk and House music to produce a thirst-quenching gospel of R&B that verges on sonic alchemy. The gospel in question is Trü’s new LP ‘RNB Vol. 1’ which Trü describes as an “homage to the full spectrum of the genre and it’s many sub genres. It’s an experiment in classic songwriting and retro futurism. On this album you’ll get classic R&B, Disco, Boogie Funk, Freestyle, New Jack, and 90’s all pushed through a contemporary lens.”

Trü’s upbringing consisted of a steady diet of Jazz, Soul and his mother’s Boogie Funk collection. He continued to pursue music outside of his mother’s living room by leading local vocal groups at the age of 10 as well as studying opera, musical theatre and composition, establishing himself as a more than capable multi-instrumentalist. Trü was eventually pulled in by the primal energy of the club scene where he first made a name for himself as a promoter, performer and DJ. “I was always drawn to the power of music to make people dance” says Trü. “There’s some innate, ritualistic pre-human thing within us, engrained on our DNA. The metaphysical combination of melodies, rhythms, lyrics and ideas; it’s what our very consciousness is made of. It is creation itself.”

“This record is built upon a sort of string theory of RNB sounds” says Trü. “THE RNB is a type of place that exists in another plane. It’s another dimension. A place beyond dreaming that is the totality of your highest vibration. All the rest though… is just mundane.” – Chanticleer Trü

R&B’s growing popularity has meant that the faces at the forefront have gotten lighter but that hasn’t stopped Trü from exploring with his own brand of creationism outside of the mainstream in the LP with the help of Natasha Kmeto and Damon Boucher. “Natasha and I have lots of conversations about unsung heroes of popular music” explains Trü “RNB musicians that don’t get the shine that they deserve because they are women, or black, or queer. Then a blonde haired blue-eyed dude from someplace trendy literally “borrows” from this genre and all the sudden RNB is cool. No. It’s never not been cool.” Trü, Kmeto and Boucher have come together to create a sound that celebrates the lost voices – often silenced like Disco was by white male supremacy – and condense the raw energy of the band’s live performances into a album that courses through the veins and taps at the primal urge to just move

“I wanted to create a record that people could be absorbed by. Something to hold them and envelop them. The world… the world itself has gotten so dark. That darkness bleeds over into everything that we create. Which can be amazing. But, I felt my call was different. I wanted to create a shift to positivity and light.” – Chanticleer Trü

Recorded in Portland, Oregon, the album is the sonic embodiment of neon, late Summer and everything you love about dancing from sundown to sunrise. It’s another opportunity to lose yourself in the nostalgia of Summer and all those tracks – whether they belonged to your parents, old flames or friends – that made you fall in love with R&B and the immense catalogue it boasts in its heritage. Songs like ‘Pillowtalk’ with its near-falsetto vocals and mesmerizing synth underscored with a groovy beat transport you to a club in the 80’s while remaining comfortably in the present with its uncanny modernity. The album is musical history and it is light and if you’re looking to immerse yourself in both this Summer then let it be your soundtrack.