Surprise Chef Drop Their Fifth Album ‘Frogs In A Pond’

Recorded in just nine days in Melbourne with minimal overdubs, Aussie quartet Surprise Chef share the follow up to 2025’s Superb. There is a palpable in-the-room quality to the recordings – a definite sense of presence and understanding in the quartet’s interplay. 

Taking inspiration from giallo cinema composers such as Piero Umiliani and Piero Piccioni, the record is filmic and evocative. The world of Frogs In A Pond is a crunchy and noir-drenched place where marginal peculiarities are magnified and fore fronted. Take the frequency filtering of the synth on the sixth track ‘Duet’, for example. The over elongated attack would feel like merely interesting ear candy for other artists. For Suprise Chef, it becomes the off-kilter centre of the track. 

Surprise Chef have earned an international following for their distinctive instrumental sound, informed as much by their isolation in Australia as by a deep love of soul, hip-hop, funk, David Axelrod and groups like Menahan Street Band. Their music has received support from KCRW, KEXP, Gilles Peterson and Questlove, whilst also being sampled by Rich Brian and Ghostface Killah. It’s certain to say Frogs In A Pond will stay in any contemporary jazz lover’s rotation for a while.

Words by Charlie Edmondson