Revival Stories

Startling modern soul from sexagenarian comeback kid.

- Jamie Atkins

Eddie Chacon 

Sundown

4/5

Stones Throw STH 2478 (LP)

The re-emergence of US soul singer Eddie Chacon has been one of the more heartening musical stories of recent times. In a nutshell: Chacon was one half of Charles & Eddie, the early 90s R&B duo who scored an international smash hit in 1992 with their then-inescapable debut single, the sugar-sweet Would I Lie To You?. The pair's fame was short-lived as subsequent singles failed to set the charts alight and their second album, 1995's Chocolate Milk, struggled to find an audience. They were dropped by their label and Chacon embarked on a series of unrealised projects, including collaborations with 2 Live Crew and the Dust Brothers. When his former partner, Charles Pettigrew, died of cancer in 2001, Chacon put music on hold to become a successful fashion photographer.

Still, an urge to create music that had taken hold as a teenager wasn't easily shaken off. Chacon released "dark disco" as The Polyamorous Affair with his wife Sissy Sainte-Marie from 200811, but to little fanfare. It was only when he met pianist and producer John Carroll Kirby in 2019 that Chacon's musical fortunes changed. Kirkby's production work with Solange on A Seat At The Table (2016) and When I Get Home (2019), along with performance credits on Frank Ocean's 2019 single DHL and The Avalanche's We Will Always Love You (2020), meant he was in demand. He and Chacon bonded over music and began jamming together, work that coalesced into 2020's Pleasure, Joy And Happiness, a sublime and cathartic collection of modern soul that was apparently meant to bring closure to Chacon's career, but through word of mouth became the hit that launched an unlikely third act.