“An old-fashioned, listen-in-one-sitting record – they’ve pair have done more than talk a good game”: Chimpan A battle the TikTokification of music on M.I.A. Vol 1

Chimpan A – M.I.A. Vol 1.

Rob Reed and Steve Balsamo have described M.I.A. Vol 1 – their third album as Chimpan A and the first since 2020’s The Empathy Machine – as a response to the “TikTokification” of music. The clue is in its full title: Music Is Art.

This is an old-fashioned, listen-in-one-sitting record. It’s a common goal in the prog world, but to pull off that trick, artists need to create material engaging enough to keep the listener rapt; and the pair have done more than talk a good game here.