Shwa Losben may be a D.C. native (or, at least former resident) but his inspirational home lies somewhere on the opposite side of the pond. After hearing the echoes of The Beatles, Blur and Radiohead it comes as no surprise to find out that Losben wrote most of the material for Chop Chop while living in London. Although Shwa is covering no new territory lyrically (ladies, love, and life), his international influences keeps him from sounding like every other singer-songwriter out there today.

Chop Chop starts out with a stunner. Slow burner “Myriah” vividly portrays an unspoken and perhaps unrequited love between two roommates, made all the more poignant by Losben’s voice which sounds like a younger and poppier derivative of Neil Young’s. The title track also portrays his lyrical prowess as he busts out an upbeat but pessimistic “Whistle While You Work.” Final track, “Out of the Ashes,” finds him moving into an OK Computer state of mind. Though it gets one to wondering whether that song was created out of the ashes of the air crash mentioned in “Lucky,” the downtrodden beauty makes the theft forgivable.