Swedish artist Chez Ali (real name Elias Mahfoud) is the solo project from Steve Buscemi's Dreamy Eyes member Elias Mahfoud. In August, he returned with new single 'Care 4 U', the first new music since his praised 2018 debut Buneas Noches Club. The jazz-inspired track is now followed by double single 'Shrek II / Gordon Ramsay', a release which by Chez Ali is described as "a farewell to all the old material that I have sat on the past year".

Praised across the board by the likes of Pigeons & Planes, High Snobiety, The 405, Clash Magazine, Hillydilly and more – the Chez Ali project was born in London in 2014; with Elias working with the project on-and-off since its conception. Care 4 U was the first step of the return of Chez Ali and saw the saxophone take a big place just as it's done on stage for Chez Ali during the last year. Shrek II and Gordon Ramsay, two pop culture inspired energetic indie pop tracks that are long time live favourites, now follows.

Elias on the new release: “These two songs have been some of my favorites to perform live in recent years and it feels fun to finally be able to share the studio versions with you! With this release, it will also be a bit like a farewell to all the old material that I have sat on the past year and also works as a "filler episode” while I work with/play around with new material that I look forward to sharing - but until then, I hope you like these self-reflective songs about how I handle grief/anxiety/heartbreak in perhaps not so effective ways."

The titles might seem silly, but there's meaning behind both of them. With Shrek II being "slightly inspired by the scene in Shrek 2 where Shrek and Fiona are arguing over Shrek behaving like an ogre, the song is about having second thoughts about one's actions and their consequences. Will things possibly change for the better if you make the effort or should you just accept that what has been done is done and get on with life.".

Gordon Ramsay, on the other hand, treats Elias' favourite way to procrastinate; "Every person is unique and this also applies to how everyone chooses to deal with anxiety and/or sadness. In my case, I usually procrastinate like there’s an infinite amount of tomorrows, ignore all sorts of social contexts, and fall down the rabbit hole that is BuzzFeed Quizzes and Gordon Ramsay Compilations on YouTube until I feel ready to take hold of my life again."

Performing live for the first time in Stockholm towards the end of 2017 to rapturous praise, Chez Ali has since then played multiple shows in Sweden, the UK and at by:larm as well as opening for Dream Wife and Gus Dapperton in Stockholm.