Cinematic, Confessional, and Full of Spark: Inside Chasing the Chimera

Photo Credit: Tanner Deutsch/Anthony Wilson

With Chasing the Chimera, Del Water Gap delivers his most fully realized artistic statement yet—a record that feels like cracking open a beautifully annotated diary. S. Holden Jaffe has always excelled at blending emotional vulnerability with a sly sense of cool, but here he sharpens that balance into something more cinematic. Musically, the project feels lush without ever tipping into excess. Jaffe leans into warm guitars, soft-edged percussion, and the kind of carefully placed textures that make a song feel lived-in before you even reach the second verse. 

Tracks like “Marigold” and “How to Live” showcase his ability to wrap big existential questions in melodies that feel effortless. Meanwhile, songs such as “Eastside Girls” and “New Personality” bring in breezier, playful energy, keeping the album dynamic and never too heavy. 

What sets Chasing the Chimera apart is the narrative cohesion. Every track feels like it belongs in the same emotional universe. Jaffe writes with a diaristic specificity that makes even the smaller moments, whether a passing glance, a late-night apology, or an imagined future that never happened, feel luminous. 

By the time the closing track, “Eagle in My Nest,” arrives, the arc becomes clear. This is not an album searching for tidy closure; it’s an album about learning to sit with the mess, the yearning, the half-finished chapters. And somehow, that acceptance feels triumphant. Chasing the Chimera is tender, sparkling, and emotionally generous, the kind of record that finds you exactly where you are and sits with you for a while. 

If Del Water Gap has been circling a defining moment in his sound, this album is it. It’s a joy to listen to, a joy to feel, and easily his most compelling work to date.