Claude9’s debut album “Chords of Love” is like floating through a dream in slow motion — the kind where time stretches, colors blur and the world feels both heavy and weightless. This Austin-based producer, aka Claude McCan, has cooked up a nine-track trip that fuses ambient, downtempo, dub, and a bit of trippy sci-fi flair. It’s not your standard background-chill record either — there’s soul, protest and deep emotional weight stitched into every layer. From the jump, you can hear his influences — Massive Attack, Boards of Canada, Enigma, Tangerine Dream, even Brian Eno — but Claude9 isn’t copying. He’s twisting all that history into something uniquely his. The title track, “Chords of Love”, feels like sinking into a cosmic hug, while earlier single “Clouds So Low” drips with that hazy, trip-hop glow. Then there’s “The Shadow”, a futuristic banger that makes you wanna close your eyes and just drift. But the knockout punch comes at the end with “Enough Is Enough”. Written during the George Floyd protests, this one blends dub-heavy grooves with haunting sax from Jorja Chalmers (Roxy Music / Bryan Ferry), and it hits hard. It’s protest music without shouting, a call for change wrapped in hypnotic beats and smoky atmosphere. The video — shot among massive satellite dishes — only adds to the alien-yet-real vibe, making the message universal. What ties the whole record together is its flow. With six long cuts and three short interludes, it plays like one continuous piece, where cicada field recordings, lush pads, and ghostly vocals bleed into each other. It’s cinematic, spiritual, and straight-up hypnotic. Bottom line: “Chords of Love” is one of those albums you throw on late at night and just let it swallow you whole. For fans of trippy electronica with brains and heart, Claude9 just delivered a gem.
♦ 8/10
Dimitris Zacharopoulos
