Chet Faker

Australian singer/songwriter Nick Murphy is known for crafting atmospheric electronic productions under his real name as well as the moniker Chet Faker. First gaining recognition for his haunting trip-hop cover of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity,” he released several additional singles under the pseudonym, including charting collaborations with Flume and Kilo Kish, before his sensual, restrained debut full-length, Built on Glass, arrived in 2014. The album was a major success, topping the charts and earning a platinum certification in his home country. After reverting to his birth name, Murphy took a more soulful, organic approach for the release of his sophomore full-length, 2019′s Run Fast Sleep Naked. However, he later revived the Chet Faker project for the 2021 full-length Hotel Surrender. That same year, he debuted his band Nick Murphy & the Program on Take in the Roses.
Growing up on his dad’s chillout compilations along with vocal albums from the jazz great Chet Baker, Australian electronica artist Nick Murphy launched his career with a downtempo cover of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.” Looking to avoid any confusion with the Australian singer of the same name, Murphy dubbed himself Chet Faker when he made “No Diggity” his first upload to the Internet in 2011. After the song became a viral hit, Faker released his debut EP, Thinking in Textures, on the Opulent label in 2012. A year later, he partnered with fellow Aussie Flume on the Lockjaw EP, released on Future Classic, while 2014 saw Downtown Records co-release his slow and serene first album, Built on Glass, which debuted at number one on the Australian ARIA Charts. Work, an EP produced with English DJ Marcus Marr, was released by Murphy’s own Detail Records in late 2015.
Despite his success, Murphy felt his sound was changing, and in 2016 he announced he was dropping the Chet Faker name and moving forward as Nick Murphy. That year, he released the tracks “Fear Less” and “Stop Me (Stop You).” In 2017 he delivered the Missing Link EP, featuring the single “Your Time” with Kaytranada. His second full-length, the shape-shifting Run Fast Sleep Naked, arrived in 2019. The release featured a more soulful, even gospel-tinged, energy and was inspired by Murphy’s self-examination on his solo travels around the world. In 2020, he issued the ambient full-length Music for Silence as well as three limited cassette EPs of more experimental material.
In October 2020, he reactivated his Chet Faker social media accounts and released “Low,” his first single under the moniker in five years. Additional tracks like “Get High” and “Whatever Tomorrow” followed in the front half of 2021, leading up to the July release of Hotel Surrender, Murphy’s second full-length as Chet Faker. It hit number 19 in Australia. Another full-length, Take in the Roses, arrived that December and featured Murphy backed by his group the Program, along with producer/ multi-instrumentalist Dave Harrington. He kicked off 2022 with the Chet Faker single “It Could Be Nice.” ~ David Jeffries & Matt Collar