<p><span><span>- For more than forty years, <strong>Martin Phillips</strong> has been the leader of The Chills, the Dunedin band who quietly started a revolution with their game-changing jangle pop. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Perhaps the closest Australians got to the heart of The Chills was with the MTV rotation and word-of-mouth hype that came with their beautiful 1990 album <em>Submarine Bells</em>, which managed to encapsulate the contrasting appeal of The Chills – no-nonsense slashes of post-punk guitar, Phillips’ unforced but engaging vocals and a distinctly lush layering of keyboards to give the music a flowing, aquatic quality. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Fast forward to 2021 and Phillips remains an excellent, distinctive vocalist and an even better songwriter. After overcoming some health issues (as documented in the film <em>The Chills: The Triumph And Tragedy Of Martin Phillips</em>), the singer is back with new Chills album <em>Scatterbrain</em>. Surprisingly unweathered by age, his voice remains gentle but distinct, gliding through the melodies, every word crystal clear. The album gets to a cracking opening with the gorgeously arranged pop of <em>Monolith</em>, a psychedelic, post-punk hook monster. The music gets positively widescreen in <em>You’re Immortal</em>, a beautiful piece of baroque pop with a memorable orchestral refrain and <strong>Morricone</strong>-esque backing vocals. <em>Little Alien</em> has that “they don’t write ‘em like that anymore” vibe to it, its marimba hook and slightly cavernous production recalling the exquisitely crafted soundscapes of <strong>The Reels</strong> circa <em>Quasimodo’s Dream</em>. <em>Worlds Within Worlds</em> takes the swirling, atmospheric tone of the album and adds piano and horn motifs that ably navigate us through Phillips’ sound world. The title track is the most abrasive tune to be found here, Phillips sneering the title over divebombing guitars, but even this song is tempered with sky-reaching epic synths. Following that brief blast of darkness, <em>Walls Beyond Abandon </em>closes the album with Phillips delivering a straightforward folk-ish melody over rich, crystalline keyboards. </span></span></p>
<p><span><span>Riding a creative wave that was restored with 2015’s <em>Silver Bullets</em> album, The Chills’ ambitious yet compact, to-the-point guitar pop has never sounded so gorgeous.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span>- Matt Thrower.</span></span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=4062693999/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="https://thechillsmusic.bandcamp.com/album/scatterbrain">Scatterbrain by The Chills</a></iframe><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/16cvmaMHr78" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>