CHILI PALMER loomed out of the first lockdown gloom of last year as the proverbial enigma wrapped in a ball of dark dark wool and locked in a box of maddening mystery. No gigs. No rules. No clues. Just two men and a clutch of amazing tunes which together comprised the ‘CHILI PALMER’ EP stuffed full with sumptuously-created gumbos of soul and funk and some seriously achy heartbreaky emotional vibes.
Now comes a brand new CHILI PALMER single and a brand new truth: turns out CHILI PALMER are a duo made up of music producer SOULS (aka David Gledhill) and esteemed east London soul singer Albert Gold. The project began over their shared love of old skool orchestral soul and it now manifests itself in a gleamingly modern fashion as ‘East End Boys’ represents a grand celebration of Grindr specifically a date Albert had on a balmy summer evening in Hackney Wick.
Imagine the ghost of Marvin Gaye asking what’s going on in E9. The lyrical signposts – both literal and metaphorical - hark back to a different time but a time we will hopefully see when we meet again out of lockdown. Not for nothing does the release of ‘East End Boys’ coincide with the first step of the Boris roadmap right outta here…
Go get uplifted by the CHILI PALMER spice of life…