Che Arthur releases Describe This Present Moment
Describe This Present Moment is Che Arthur‘s fifth album under his own name. In ten songs the Chicago-based multi-instrumentalist/songwriter/engineer/producer pits the taut, concise punk/indie structures and contemplative acoustic-based textures of his previous albums against heavier moments that call back to Pink Avalanche, the currently “on hiatus” band Arthur helmed from 2010-2020.
Likely to interest fans of Sugar, Jawbreaker, The Replacements or early Afghan Whigs, Moment sees Arthur expand upon his cathartic, darkly melodic post-hardcore work in Pink Avalanche, his previous solo work and as guitarist in regarded early 2000s Chicago quartet Atombombpocketknife.
Arthur is a touring sound engineer by trade who has toured with Silversun Pickups, Bob Mould, Battles, Minus The Bear, Manchester Orchestra and many more.
After tracking drums at Electrical Audio with engineer Brian Fox, Arthur tracked the rest of the album himself in Rapid City, SD, St Louis MO, and his home studio in Chicago, then mixed it at home.
The title was Arthur’s off-the-cuff response to an interview question about a fictional playlist name, but it was appropriate – as is his long-established style, Moment is an album about Che’s life and vision of the world as it is right now. “When I came up with the title in early ’24, I didn’t realize the moment i’d be describing a year later would be such a bummer. I tend to be a bit of a dark writer by nature, but damn. No light in the tunnel to weave into songs written in the US in mid-2025 – not that I can see, anyway.”
“But I tried not to over-analyze, even though that’s my tendency, and to just let the words come through. The lyrics on my last record [2024’s Fallow] were written very intentionally and meticulously – even though I wrote them all in like a month. Nearly every line on it refers to a specific situation in my life. It’s a super cathartic record, but it’s also intense revisiting certain situations onstage over and over, and I put pressure on myself to explore other topics on this one. But in the end I write what’s on my mind, so that’s what I did. I’ve got fears, I’ve got angers, At times I’ve got hopelessness. That’s going to come out in my writing.”
What emerges is a concise 32-minute listen that is weighty but rewarding, heavy but thought-provoking.
