The Chills have provided a very nice end of the year surprise in the form of a new single ‘You’re Immortal’, and all the horrors of 2020 suddenly seem to dissipate ever so slightly, like memories of a bad dream.
‘You’re Immortal’ has that baroque pop elegance full of pomp and circumstance that the The Chills have perfected over the years – sweet, indie pop draped in a cloak of orchestral brilliance that sparkles and glows.
Main man and living legend Martin Phillipps says of the track:
These are unprecedented times but, as usual, the young feel invulnerable and the elders are concerned. The old people (like me) want to feel more involved but they also know that their time of influence has largely passed.
So we learn from the young and admire them as they make their own mistakes yet still, hopefully, shape extraordinary history we could not have imagined.
The song is bold – with an almost Ennio Morricone instrumental vibrancy and a sixties swing – with Phillipps wry and dry lyrics and stabs of celestial strings.
The Chills are of course at the vanguard of epic New Zealand indie pop and join fellow erstwhile Flying Nun labelmates and compatriots The Bats and Dead Famous People in releasing new material this fruitful year – a surfeit of joy and contentment for us fans of the kiwi music scene.
‘You’re Immortal’ is out now and available to download/stream here.
This single follows the release of the tale so vividly told in the sublime film biography of The Chills’ enigmatic frontman, ‘The Chills: the Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps’ reviewed by me in May and available here. It also follows the release of the reissuing of two of The Chills’ seminal albums, ‘Submarine Bells’ and ‘Soft Bomb’, on vinyl, both remastered and released on 5 November 2020 through Flying Nun Records and Fire Records.
This is a portend of great things come from the reborn and rejuvenated Phillipps and The Chills in 2021.
Feature Photograph: Scott Muir