Leo Sawikin, the voice behind the critically-acclaimed indie rockers The Chordaes is back in the headlines this March as a solo act, and in his first two singles – “Take What You Want” and “Born Too Late” – he proves that he’s always been the heart and soul of the band he’s fronted. In “Take What You Want,” Sawikin delivers some of his signature soft vocals set to a swelling melody as strong as a misty cold front coming off of the Atlantic, with the harmonies he forges conveying emotions words could only dream of capturing on their own. “Born Too Late” is just as intriguing, pumping out a provocative rhythm atop which our leading man will colorize every beat with uncompromisingly bruising poetry. They’re experimental, but in my view, all breakout content should be.
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“Born Too Late” boasts a stunning quality to its string parts that immediately reminded me of the dry instrumental tones of old school alternative rock, only they’ve been given a heady sonic boost for the 21st century. The lyrics are made buoyant by the production style, but never accessible simply because of the manner in which they’re offered to listeners. In the same way that “Take What You Want” depends on the absence of a groove to make the mood tangible to us, this track relies on the thrust of its rhythm to force pressure on the narrative – thus making every verse sound like a desperate plea for rescue on the part of Sawikin. It’s nauseatingly intimate and exposed, but that’s exactly what I think he was going for here.
The instrumental component of both songs has a muscularity I wasn’t expecting to come across in Leo Sawikin’s solo project, but there’s never anything made so powerful that his voice is drowned out by the chaos. Controlled melodic explosions have been The Chordaes’ recipe for success thus far, but he’s taking a different approach to contrast in these singles. He’s clandestine with every move he makes behind the mic, letting the harmonies crush us with their suffocating tonality more than he ever would the percussive element in “Take What You Want” or “Born Too Late” the same. Intellectualism has a place in contemporary pop/rock, and if that wasn’t clear before listening to this material, I think it should be after pressing play on either track.
I’m really looking forward to hearing what else Leo Sawikin is going to compile for his upcoming greenhorn effort as a solo player, and I doubt I’m the only one. There’s a lot of promise in these first two songs, and whether examining their construction or the way they’re so boldly matched together as an emotional yin to the other’s yang, it’s should be obvious even to the most discriminating of critics that he’s onto something really original here. “Born Too Late” and “Take What You Want” are both making waves at the moment, and if given the right exposure on college radio, I think they’re going to make 2021 very interesting for Mr. Sawikin.
Troy Johnstone