By Brent Thompson

Chin Chin, the ninth album by the self-described “folkestra” Ezra Bell, is a musical love letter to Ben Wuamett, the band’s lead singer and lyricist. Wuamett passed away in 2024 while working on the project that would ultimately become this release. But Chin Chin (ONErpm Records), has more in common with a New Orleans jazz funeral than a death march. Stylistically, the octet is as diverse as ever and its sound is still definably indefinable. Elements of jazz, blues, vaudeville, and rock are poured into a sound that comes through like a street-performing ensemble playing for its collective life. In addition to the buzz that the recent single “Let Me In” has garnered, the album includes the previous single “Tommy’s Lullaby,” released just weeks before Wuamett’s death. In the end, Chin Chin is a collection of songs that sounds reverent and relevant at the same time.