Coco Chatru Quartet brings us a double album as a 'tribute' to both Fritz Lang's silent film and Thea von Harbou's novel - now set in 2026, the music was written as a film score and will be premiered live with film at Bio Capitol in November!
It doesn't seem a year since Coco Chatru Quartet's 'Lost Christmas' LP (see review HERE): or even further back 'Future' (see review HERE) and the follow-up, 'Limbokolia' (see review HERE), but when it comes to classic silent films from 1927 directed and written by Fritz Lang, here's a current jazz take on what media students could learn from.
Due to the nature of the ground breaking film, similar to [re]imagined soundtracks to the 1929 Russian silent film by Dziga Vertov, 'Man With A Movie Camera' , there's no long tracking scenes so hence the double album for 'Metropolis' with 18 track double album.
And to prove the point, there's six tracks on side A with the scene setter of the pumping march of 'The Machine City' that gives Metropolis City the power to function, think industrial age Black Country furnaces (see J. M. W. Turner), the funeral aura of 'The Underworld', the chirpy 'Games' followed by 'Freder At Play' and the love themed 'Maria' (Freder and Maria being the principle characters in the book/film) and ending on the lively 'Machines' with the runaway bassline.
As you might gather, there's also elements of Mr. Verne's 'Journey To The Centre Of The Earth' as envisaged in the past by the caped crusader of prog, Rick Wakeman but here's a quick summary: 'Metropolis' is set in the future where an uptopian master society is serviced by a underclass of slave workers who run the machinery that keeps the above ground functioning; but there's a saviour from above who meets a girl from ubelow and between them go about putting an end to the corrupt construct and sets about a "workers of the world unite" revolution with echoes from 100 years beforehand in the UK of Swing Riots (anti-machine) and Richard Cobden's Corn Laws reform.'
So, an adaption of an events long ago (repeated history) transpossed by a century with boy meets girl love story interest only to be taken up a further 100 years on by Swedish jazz group whose various members wrote all the tracks what was recorded at the Stockholm Concert Hall in the summer this year; quite a coup for a jazz band!
And as we move onto Side B; 'Moloch' is the perfect 'noir' of atmospheric OST jazz with tubular bells (of foreboding), wandering sax(es) (of confusion) and towpath bass (of shadows). 'Moloch' is definitely one of my favourite tracks on the album, the second longest to another 'Delirium' (see later) but with any great story, there's a number of variations going on with this album as we move from 'Moloch' to 'The Father And The Thin Man'; a cool Latin in the lounge vibe!
And as this film looks to the future, in the week that Musk exhibits his flying car of the future, 'Flying Cars' is a pacey run away bass line with baritone sax chase before the morbid sounding 'Map Of The Dead Man' which is oddly smooth with an edgey sax.
Turning to disc 2, 'Yoshiwara' is a gentle eastern wind with jazzy sound bath vibes, the upbeat 'The Club' which gives me BBC Schools TV theme chills before getting to prohibition back room performance of 'Machine Maria Dances' (the drumming has a real speakeasy swing on this on: and the bass). And whilst we're underground, 'The Catacombs' is the quiet before the storm that is 'Delirium'!
'Delirium' opens up Side D with the climax of the film/soundtrack and is followed by, 'Return To The Underworld', 'Death To The Machines' (I think we can all relate to that - whilst the track gets a bit warped/electronic/dubbed out - a future remix album?) and 'Final Battle' with a cloak and dagger theme and marching drums. Love the electric keys fusion on 'Delirium' and how the track develops (the longest on the album) with the saxes interplay. I must say, the musicianship on this album is so good fantasic being the familiar Coco Chatru multi-talents of Linus Kåse (alto, soprano and tenor sax, keyboard), Charlie Malmberg (baritone sax, piano, keyboard), Håkan Trygger (double bass, percussion), Daniel Kåse (drums, vibraphone, percussion, trumpet).
This is CCQ's fourth album if you're lucky enough to be in Stockholm on 17 and 18th November, the group with perform live to Fritz Lang's classic film at Bio Capitol and note, the music is 2hrs 29 minutes long! Not only that, Bokförlaget Faethon is publishing the novel behind Lang’s film, along with a newly written essay and the Ölkemi micro-brewery (Stockholm) has created a Metropolis IPA to accompany all things related to the release.
As long time Coco Chatru Quartet watchers, this is by far their most ambitious project and I am happy to report, it's a success. You don't have to be a jazz buff or a media/arts student to love this - it is the future!
BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: https://tidal.com
Artist: Coco Chatru Quartet
Title: Metropolis
Release date: 20th November, 2026
Label: Trygger Music
Catalog Number : TM5
Format : 2 x Vinyl LP / Spotify / Tidal
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