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The chairman dances
Philadelphia-based outfit The Chairman Dances have developed a distinctive amalgamation of indie rock, art pop and folk. Led by songwriter Eric Krewson, the band direct this sound into a compassionate and searching style, drawing on a range of literary and theological themes to explore political and spiritual ideas, and ask questions as pressing now as they have ever been. -Jon Doyle, Various Small Flames
Praise for The Chairman Dances
Winsome and winning indie pop songs on the latest from The Chairman Dances, where erudite lyrics are cradled by gorgeous arrangements. -Bandcamp
Art rock luminaries... this is a sparkling record - WXPN
My new favorite band... lyrically adventurous, harmonically intricate - T. Robinson, BBC
Notable performance collaborations
The Chairman Dances has shared the stage with Ten FĂ©, Rhett Miller (Old 97s), Work Drugs, Kopecky, Half-handed Cloud, and Hey Marseilles.
Press release for Small Comforts, out 1/27/23
Small comforts. Nothing out of the ordinary—a phone call, a plum, a chintzy party hat. As unremarkable as these things seem, they are full of meaning, offering solace, joy, pleasure. Their exchange is what makes a friend a friend, a spouse a spouse, a loved one beloved. You worry about your parent, so you call them, and their voice is a relief to you, just as yours is to them. The muted buzz of your phone, a photo of a relative, framed or floating on a screen—comfort manifest.
The Chairman Dances’ new album is a meditation on such things, its characters as modest and compelling as the comforts they seek: a single mother-to-be hosts her own baby shower; a father opens up about his loss over Zoom, turns the online gathering into a grief support group.
The Chairman Dances set out with a number of goals for what was to be their new album, Small Comforts. Songwriter Eric Krewson wanted to write bona fide short stories and poems, pieces that worked on the page, could be read aloud and enjoyed on their own. The band, after making a number of beautifully lush, intricate recordings, was looking to scale back, to impart only what was necessary. The result is a lithe and dynamic record, one that spans the range of human emotion. The highs are indeed high when the five piece of Krewson, singer Ashley Cubbler, bassist Will Schwarz, pianist Dan Comly, and drummer Mike Szekely really let loose. There’s an exchange of energy during such songs as “A Year Spent Floating”, “Everything Slant” and the title track. These moments are made more meaningful by the restrained, sotto voce passages found on “Alone at Waverly”, the 1950s ballad-inspired “Margaret”, and the dreamy “The Day’s Length”. In the latter, Szekely’s cymbal rivets vibrate ecstatically, making you feel like you’re swimming in the ocean. Such a varied musical range helps paint Krewson’s sung stories with enthralling exactitude. Isaac Babel once said of Leo Tolstoy’s work, “If the world could write by itself, it would write like Tolstoy.” If the world could sing itself, it would sing of small comforts, and the result might just sound like this record.
