TALsounds

TALsounds is the ambient solo moniker of Chicago-based experimental artist Natalie Chami, who is also a member of the trio <a href="spotify:artist:6Mj8zEcLdfcF23aNKyJ3Ov">Good Willsmith</a>, one half of the duo l'éternèbre, and a co-founder of the Screaming Claws collective. Improvised using numerous synths and looping devices, as well as Chami's own vocals, her solo material is significantly calmer and more meditative than her work with the often chaotic <a href="spotify:artist:6Mj8zEcLdfcF23aNKyJ3Ov">Good Willsmith</a>, but there's still a sense of playfulness and joy to her music. Her discography includes several cassettes on labels like <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hausu+Mountain%22">Hausu Mountain</a>, such as 2015's All the Way, and LPs on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ba+Da+Bing%22">Ba Da Bing</a> (2017's Love Sick) and <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22NNA+Tapes%22">NNA Tapes</a> (2020's Acquiesce, 2023's Shift).

Born in Ontario, Chami first began using the name TALsounds in 2009, and started performing shows around Chicago in 2011. <a href="spotify:artist:6Mj8zEcLdfcF23aNKyJ3Ov">Good Willsmith</a> formed in 2012 and immediately began touring, but Chami still played solo gigs, and opened for artists such as the Japanese group <a href="spotify:artist:6uBkNo2YlXN0OIWaSSMAQG">Mono</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0bOrkDLzYe57Zl803Zv8ww">Chris Brokaw</a>. Her debut solo tape, Sky Face, was issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Notes+%26+Bolts%22">Notes & Bolts</a> in 2013. This was followed by a split 7" with Iron Galaxy and several other tapes on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hausu+Mountain%22">Hausu Mountain</a> (the label run by both of her <a href="spotify:artist:6Mj8zEcLdfcF23aNKyJ3Ov">Good Willsmith</a> bandmates), Tabs Out, and Bookend Recordings. TALsounds shared stages with <a href="spotify:artist:484ZnYb0Vh2fHtYD0bEQuF">Dustin Wong</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5zjaF8JUdylMWrA7AVo3hJ">Marissa Nadler</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0viGQ3jAizOu9tIRnYpvto">Mind Over Mirrors</a>, and numerous <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hausu+Mountain%22">Hausu Mountain</a> artists.

In 2016, her Natal Host tape was released in association with the synth manufacturer Moog. The album was recorded using the Moog Mother-32 synth, which is monophonic, unlike the polyphonic ones she typically uses. Later in the year, all three members of <a href="spotify:artist:6Mj8zEcLdfcF23aNKyJ3Ov">Good Willsmith</a> simultaneously released solo tapes on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Hausu+Mountain%22">Hausu Mountain</a>; TALsounds' was titled Lifter + Lighter. The following year, TALsounds made its CD and LP debut with Love Sick, released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Ba+Da+Bing+Records%22">Ba Da Bing Records</a>. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22NNA+Tapes%22">NNA Tapes</a> issued Chami's full-length Acquiesce in 2020. Following several life changes, including Chami's marriage and relocation to the Washington, D.C. area, TALsounds released Shift in 2023. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi