Faced with the task of following up the previous year's 8 A.M. All Day -- an album which generated major buzz in the indie community --
Chisel came up with
Set You Free, the best effort of a career that ended shortly after its release. Each of the album's 17 tracks is indispensable, from the surprisingly melodic repetition of the music-scene critique "On Warmer Music" to the slow meditation of "The Last Good Time." In between, the group builds upon its pop skills to include horns ("The Unthinkable Is True") and keyboard ("In Our Time"), without them ever being intrusive. An overlooked and underrated gem. ~ Brian Raftery