Chet Faker is like a viking in many ways. He looted and pillaged this year’s Hottest 100 with four songs making the countdown and emerged, bloody and victorious in the number one spot. He has a glorious beard, and he spends much of his time traveling from place to place.
However, unlike a Germanic Norse seafarer from years past, Chet Faker brings with him not tyrannical violence but mad sweet beats, and explores not the waters of Scandinavia but the boundaries of melody and rhythm. With his ship a keyboard and synthesizer, his voice a mighty axe, Chet Faker makes conquest of every stage in his path.
The valiant explorer made his way to Chevron Gardens on Saturday to perform for an eager crowd of Perth festivalgoers. After his recent Hottest 100 number one, Chet Faker, (or Nicholas Murphy, as is his muggle name), was a jewel in the crown of the Perth International Arts Festival program, and expectations were high.
Living up to his reputation as a true professional, Murphy delivered an impressive repertoire of songs, a rich catalogue for a musician who is only in his fourth year of going full-time. As well as demonstrating that his unique voice is just as smooth live, Murphy also looks after his audience. It was clear that he was conscious of maintaining the “vibe” at all times.
Early on in the evening, Murphy encouraged his audience to keep phone interaction to a minimum. For the most part, the audience were happy to oblige, and the decision allowed the gig to have a more intimate, connected feel. Plus it was nice not to have to look at the musicians onstage through a sea of luminous rectangles.
As well as playing recent favourites like ‘Gold’, and ‘To Me’, Murphy also played the cover of Blackstreet’s ‘No Diggity’ that made him an internet sensation in 2011. He also threw in an unexpected cover of Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’ that gave a paired back, slowed down and overall smooth feel to a song that can easily turn schmaltzy in the wrong hands.
Although Chet Faker’s music has an unmistakable style, it also enjoys variation, with the audience enjoying a chilled-out groove one moment and jumping up to dance the next. The crowd was quite varied in age, and were all fairly well-behaved and not afraid of properly dancing.
One thing that all of Chet Faker’s songs have in common is that they are sexy. His lyrics are relatable statements of desire and longing that sound like things maybe you wanted someone to say to you, or that you wanted to say to someone else but were too afraid. If you rewrote the ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ screenplay with only Chet Faker lyrics it’d probably be a better film.
What I’m trying to say is, if you don’t want to buy Chet Faker’s album and have sex to it then I don’t understand you. His live performance had all the smoothness and raw honesty of his recorded music with the added bonus of a musician committed to connecting with his audience. I’d be willing to bet that there was not one person in the room who didn’t want to ride that beard into the sunset.
Murphy finished his set with the crowd favourite ‘Talk is Cheap’, and left us to wander, dazed and happy, into the February night.
Sophie Joske
