By It’s our Bandcamp Pick of the Week, featuring the squiggly art pop R&B of Choker’s HEAVEN AIN’T SOLD, out now via Jet Fuzz!
Choker – HEAVEN AIN’T SOLD
Genres: Alternative R&B, Art Pop
Favorite Tracks: “Proof,” “Good,” “Blue Sole”
Until now, everything about the Choker project felt fascinatingly meteoric. Almost all of his discography was released in a brief span of three years, including three EPs released in quick succession in 2019. It was a period where most male R&B crooners were, fittingly or not, examined and contrasted against Frank Ocean’s output. Even if he and Ocean share a taste for vocal acrobatics, early into his trajectory there were a handful of masterful, irreplaceable songs (“Juno,” “Lucky”) that positioned Christopher Lloyd as someone to take notice of, beyond any similarities with his peers.
When HEAVEN AIN’T SOLD was finally announced after seven years of radio silence seldomly interrupted by Instagram posts, I was both overjoyed and slightly apprehensive. 2018’s HONEYBLOOM was a formative record for me during early adulthood, a breezy and mellow summer record that accompanied many twilit outings and late-night strolls. More than hoping for another record like it, I hoped whatever Choker had been working on all these years could capture at least some of the awe he elicited from me back then.
That doubt lingered for a grand total of three days until the lead single, “Proof,” was released. Invincible new jack swing drums pair with jaunty piano and oil-slick bass to form an irresistible groove, Choker singing about yearning in a lucid manner rarely seen: “Falling back into ourselves / We’re just falling back into ourselves / Swear when you laugh it breaks my sense in half / Looking for some clarity you never seem to have.” It’s a surprising return for an artist that previously struggled to strike at the heart of things without first meandering.
Most of the album benefits from Lloyd’s discerning ear for unique arrangements and genre-mixing: “Rae Town” is a beautiful slice of Lee “Scratch” Perry-style dub, delay liberally applied to most of the mix until everything feels watery and surreal. Even with its gloomy subject matter of being betrayed by a romantic partner, “Good” is an instant party-starter, a steady Atlanta bass beat that never lets up. A near-rocker, “Blue Sole” is almost entirely built off of swooning electric guitar and dense vocal stacks that build to an explosive second half, bringing an emotional climax to the album’s constant confrontation of loss: “I need a little peace of mind / ‘Cause I don’t feel like conversation / I know I can’t keep this up / I don’t wanna shy away from why.”
It’s a testament to Choker’s evolution as a composer and writer that even when HEAVEN AIN’T SOLD retreads old grounds in his discography, there’s a renewed sense of maturity and worldliness. It’s rich, dark, and vulnerable in ways he’s rarely been before. For an artist with a condensed, relatively homogenous discography, it’s an undeniable triumph. Check it out on Bandcamp!
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