There’s a loose, unforced charm to ‘Chicago’ that suits its story. Throughout, A Project Called Love’s Jay Hope captures the excitement of being somewhere unfamiliar, meeting someone unexpectedly, and carrying that memory home.
Since it first emerged, his solo project has been deliberately difficult to pin down. And on ‘Chicago’, ska rhythms sit alongside punk energy and bright indie-pop melody, creating a track that feels playful without becoming novelty-driven. The song moves quickly, but there’s enough contrast in the arrangement to keep it from feeling one-dimensional.
The brass is especially important, as rather than simply decorating the track, it gives ‘Chicago’ much of its lift, adding a buoyant counterpoint to the rougher guitar textures. That interplay between abrasion and brightness gives the song a clear identity, with the heavier sections keeping the ska influence from becoming too clean or predictable.
There’ss some of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’ rhythmic exuberance in the mix, while the guitar work carries a more alternative 90s edge. Yet the song works because those influences are folded them together according to instinct, which is consistent with his wider refusal to stay inside one genre.
He performs vocals, guitar and bass himself, with drums and brass provided by additional players, and the result feels personal without sounding isolated. Recorded in Cologne, the city where he grew up, ‘Chicago’ becomes an interesting meeting point between different places in his life: Germany, California and the American city that gave the song its name.
Throughout, A Project Called Love keeps the song light on its feet, melodic and slightly rough around the edges. And ‘Chicago’ feels like exactly what it should be: a bright, restless memory preserved before it had the chance to fade.
