Chas Leman has never struck us as an artist content to sit still. And with his new EP ‘REPETITIVE STRAIN’, he detonates that expectation. Where his previous work leaned into classic British songwriting traditions, this four-track release dives headfirst into rhythm programming and dancefloor tension. The result is a razor-sharp, loop-fuelled meditation on modern work culture that feels both slyly witty and quietly furious.
Opening offering ‘WASHING MACHINE WEEK.’ wastes no time establishing the new terrain. A throbbing low-end groove hums beneath shimmering keys and unexpected global flourishes, creating a strangely buoyant atmosphere. It’s playful on the surface, but beneath that bounce sits the artist’s unmistakable ache, with his voice carrying the weight of routine and repetition. There’s a wry poetry to his observations that finds beauty in draughty rooms and dripping taps while questioning how we ended up here in the first place.
‘THE GOOD LIFE?’ ups the tempo and sharpens the satire. It’s slick, rhythm-heavy and instantly infectious, but listen closely and you’ll catch the sting. Leman catalogues the shrinking spaces of joy once available to everyday people, wrapping social commentary inside grooves built for movement. The irony is delicious, you can dance to it, but you can’t escape what it’s saying.
Then comes ‘THE REAL WORLD.’, the EP’s most daring moment. Fragmented vocal treatments and layered electronic textures swirl around an intricate harmonic structure, giving the track an almost hallucinatory quality. It feels like scrolling through headlines at 2am; overstimulated, uncertain, yet strangely mesmerising.
While closing track ‘THIS IS LIFE.’ starts sparse and builds with cinematic patience. The chorus lands like a collective exhale; resigned but resilient. And that final instrumental swell, where guitars slice through the electronic framework, is pure chemistry.
Here, Chas Leman isn’t wallowing in disillusionment, he’s documenting endurance. This is music for commuters with headphones on, dreamers clocking in, and anyone who has stared at a fluorescent ceiling and thought, surely there’s more than this.
Bold, rhythmic, and refreshingly unpolished in its honesty, this EP proves Chas Leman isn’t afraid to reprogram himself. And in doing so, he’s crafted something fiercely current and unmistakably his.
