CHIMPAN A BACK WITH SINGLES RUN
The releases herald the duo’s third album, which makes a bold defence for music.
Chimpan A: maintaining traditional recording values.
KIRSTEN MCTERNAN
Rob Reed and Steve Balsamo’s project Chimpan A have announced the release of their third studio album via Tigermoth in August, with a series of four EPs preceding it on CD and streaming platforms in the coming months. The Magenta mainman reconnected with singer-songwriter Balsamo to make a follow-up to Chimpan A’s 2006 debut in 2020 with The Empathy Machine, and this time they have created a record that they view as “an old-fashioned response to the TikTokification of music”. Hence a title, M.I.A. Vol 1 – an acronym for “Music Is Art” – that both unashamedly describe as “pretentious”.