The Chillies boys change to disco

The Chillies boys take a gamble of 'all or nothing' with vibrant disco music.

Putting aside their success with easy-to-listen pop-rock music , the four boys of the Chillies group challenge listeners with the familiar yet strange space of the disco genre.

The group officially marked their comeback with the MV Gold in early October, the song was chosen as the lead single from the second album titled Kim (just released on the evening of October 16) . Through the song, the group also clearly expressed the musical direction they will pursue in the future. That is the disco style (specifically the disco - retro color of the 1970s, 1980s).

The second album titled Kim by the Chillies group was released on the evening of October 16.

PHOTO: NVCC

Chillies adventure to new lands

Not afraid of challenges or pampering fans' ears, the group left their comfort zone with songs that made their name such as: Mascara, Memory Zone, Just chill, Sun Avenue ... to adventure to new lands.

"Since our establishment, we didn't have our own songs yet. We specialized in covering foreign music, but we didn't copy the originals, but remade them according to our own ideas. We really like soul, disco, funky... so we often remix international songs in this style. At the present time, we want to approach music in a more 'international' way. With pop - rock, we have achieved certain successes but we don't want to stay in that position forever. Chillies wants to do something more unique as well as enhance our artistic ego more", the group shared.

Kim Album is a nostalgic musical journey. This is a true concept album with a coherent musical structure, the lyrics are written with more experience on the background of disco, funky, synth pop... In which Gold is the first piece to be announced in the new journey. The song has a clear disco color with metaphorical words for the message of love in couples. The lyrics of the song are inspired by Greek mythology, from the story of King Midas - who had the ability to turn everything into gold when he touched it. The bass guitar part of member Nhim Sea (also produced and arranged) is quite prominent in the song, with many strong funky features, appearing and disappearing throughout the 7 songs of the record.

If you listen to the album straight through, you will see Chillies cleverly lure and invite listeners (with the Intro ) to a vibrant party of young people, like a year-end prom at schools where the participants are about to leave behind their childish appearance to prepare for the journey of adulthood, of experience, pain, joy and happiness. There, the participants seem to step through a "time machine" to disguise themselves as citizens of the 1970s and 1980s - the time when disco was extremely popular.

Guys who dare to try and do

After Intro , the disco-retro color was clearly affirmed with No Regrets , besides the love story, the lyrics are like a confession of the group's "compass". There is no hesitation when embarking on a new path. Answering the question, are we afraid of losing fans when changing 180 degrees, these guys affirmed: "We are people who dare to try, dare to do, so if there are things we don't do, don't change, how can we know how the public will react? It can be said that we took a risk in this album, 'destroying and rebuilding' the group's style because we want to create uniqueness."

Special music space of Kim album preview session

PHOTO: NVCC

Next, Chillies lead listeners to the modernity of another variation of disco, synth pop, which many international artists are pursuing such as Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus... through the song Doi Canh , the synthesizer effects are spread densely and boldly throughout the mix, creating a feeling of urgency that is pleasing to the ears of the listener. After pushing the album's atmosphere to a climax, the group somewhat calmed the space with Lády (the song's title is a wordplay on the words "take away" and "lady"). A lovelorn, sad song but in the "fiery" spirit of dance music.

Coming to Di Tim , the group returned to the disco-retro style and then transformed into Easy , an easy-to-listen synth pop. Without the excellent sounds, strong, overlapping effects like Doi Canh , Easy is quite simple, cute with melody and lyrics carrying very youthful "mottos" of life. No matter how gentle it is, the album's music makes listeners... unable to sit still but at least sway their bodies to each rhythm.

The four boys close the album with Bermuda - a truly special song that "save the best for last". Bermuda is also the song that the whole group voted as their favorite recording, in addition to the disco sound, the production drops into the rhythm of the gentle bossa nova and the sexy saxophone (by artist Hoang Thi) takes the listener to drift to the Caribbean shores of the beautiful and mysterious Atlantic Ocean, where there is a body of water called "the devil's triangle". Similar to Gold , this second English-titled song also contains subtle metaphors about the sublimation of love.

The group ended the album with a rather interesting and unique Outro . It was not the usual music but… the members sharing their thoughts about the album with laughter and teasing from 30-year-old men. Not young enough to be called young men but not old enough to be "ripe" men. That is what makes the album attractive, cheerful, humorous in moderation but also full of thoughts and self-questioning.

Duy Khang - the main vocalist and author of 7 songs in the album - said: "Before, I composed based on personal feelings, but this time it's different. The reason for that is because I and 2 other members of the group have families. Our perspective on life is now different, more mature, so music now is not just limited to our own stories."

The way they make music now is also different from before. They no longer eat and sleep together, but each person does their own work at home and then sends it to the others. For example, when Khang finishes composing and sends it to Nhim Bien, Nhim will text him to ask what style he wants to do it in and then email it back to the whole group. "Each person is in a different place but still in harmony with each other," the group said with a laugh.

In addition, in this second album, Duy Khang also took charge of the sound mastering. He said: "I am confident with my nearly 10 years of playing music and 30 years of listening to music. I think no one understands the band's music better than us, so mastering it ourselves is the best way. It's not that I suddenly jumped in to 'take' the job of the sound engineers, I have studied on my own for 3 years as well as invested in - buying a lot of tools and machines from abroad."

"Among the current generation of young artists, I think Chillies is a name worth mentioning. The group has a civilized and modern musical color. I have followed the group since the first songs and really like the album Qua khung cua canh (2020). Kim is a very commendable album, youthful, fresh and full of vitality. The album's sound is very international, the mix and mastering of the album are also well done. What I regret the most is the rigid Western pronunciation of Vietnamese like many singers today. Pronouncing Vietnamese like English is a common weakness of the entire generation of young singers. I think language is the root, we cannot 'give up'. Internationalization is only in music, but language is our identity! Just that, everything else in the album is good."

Musician Vo Thien Thanh

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cac-chang-trai-chillies-thay-doi-voi-disco-185251017195140427.htm