I think I have briefly mentioned Chase Van Dusen in a column before. I was and am still ticked off that he is not famous. Yes that's right, I'm not exactly ticked off at the world this week; because I have been too busy listening to the angelic voice on Chase's new EP album. I'm going to admit before I even start this review or column that I am biased in this situation. Thankfully, this is my personal column and I don't always have to hold high to the professional journalism's rule of unbiased reporting.Chase Van Dusen is one of my dearest friends, and is not from Saskatchewan. He is actually from the country's capital, Ottawa. But, don't worry he has toured Saskatchewan and the rest of Canada actually, with his retired band, Benefit of a Doubt. I am doubtful that anyone here has actually heard of Benefit of a Doubt but they were a pretty big deal in the east. They managed to reach radio success with several of their songs being played around Ontario. After parting ways with the band, he began a solo project simply called CHASE. He has been voted to the top of the charts on several battles of the songs all over Ottawa radio. He not only recorded his five song EP, but also was a guest vocalist on many other projects. Music has always been the love of my life. It never lets you down, and there is always a song out there that knows exactly how you are feeling. With Chase's new music, that song is every song on the album. With his first solo release he continues with the pop rock vibes from his band, but seems to touch on more emotional matters. The music is deeply personal and comes straight from the talented musician's heart. The result of months of work is a five song compilation entitled 'Starting Over'. Now I was lucky enough to be in Ottawa while Chase was writing my personal favorite song. I got a one on one performance of the song "Make Believe", which is about how he disagrees with the friends with benefits faze that is going on. He admits to trying it out to only end up with a broken heart. The idea for a song came to him when he was watching the motion picture Friends With Benefits, as he realized that he would be like the character in the movie, and fall in love with his partner. Now I can't imagine any girl who wouldn't fall in love with Chase, as he is quite a gem to the eyes and ears, but apparently he's had his fair share of heart breaks.The EP can be split into two sub categories, sing along tunes ("Extra, Extra", "The Queen", " Broken Windows") and emotional ballads( "Sweep", "Make Believe"), either way he is spilling out his heart over quite a break up, and his past love life. I haven't gone a single day without the lyrics to at least one of these songs in my head, since their release back in May. I have been show casing Chase's music to friends for years without them even realizing it. If you have ever been in my house you have most likely heard either a Benefit of a Doubt song or solo song. He has never sold out, nor do I ever expect him to. His music is his passion, and I don't see him ever changing to suit a specific mold that mass record labels often look for. I, however, am just hoping that a talent scout will accept him for who he is. So far this seems to maybe already happening.As Chase puts it in 'Extra, Extra', "I felt everything". Thanks for the heart breaking, yet heart medicating tunes my friend!His old music from his band days can be found at www.myspace.com/benefitofadoubtrock, with his new album available for listening and free download at http://www.chasevandusen.com/fr_music.cfm.
