The Chills - Scatterbrain
“An essential contemporary voice” – The Wire
“A worthy addition to a glorious canon” – ★★★★ Uncut
“Achieving greatness again and again.” – ★★★★ Music OMH
“A quest for truth and hope in a time of misinformation and despair.” – Stereogum
“A classic” – Brooklyn Vegan
“Phillipps and his supporting players fuse moodiness with his instinctive feel for pop.” – Mojo
“The Chills are very much still creating their finest works” – Louder Than War
“An ebullient and energetic collection.” – Norman Records
“An architect of New Zealand’s fabled Dunedin sound” – Pitchfork
“Just glorious” – The Guardian
“The Chills have never sounded better” – Record Collector
Dunedin’s finest, The Chills release their seventh studio album Scatterbrain, a glorious self-examination of Martin Phillipps’ songwriting hot(ish) on the heels of the hugely successful Snow Bound (2018) and the critically-acclaimed movie The Chills: The Triumph And Tragedy Of Martin Phillipps a year later.
As the rave reviewed movie premiered at the SXSW film festival, The Chills headed out on their first US tour since ’96 to further accolades whilst revisiting those esoteric extremes so wonderfully collected in the film which then simultaneously premiered around the world.
Now in 2021, Phillipps is taking stock of things – everything. Yes, everything. The result is this triumphant new Chills’ album Scatterbrain, a thought-provoking and evocative stock take from a man who has lived through good times and bad. But now, the world is a different place and optimism is in short supply. Viewed from the perspective of a man understanding his age and indeed his own mortality, Scatterbrain is underpinned, as ever, with catchy melodies and an incisive turn of phrase; it takes a mature look at matters arising with a side order of perspective as opening cut ‘Monolith’ displays.
We live in hope and with a gloriously uplifting 32 minutes to play on repeat as the world continues to confuse. Scatterbrain is a life passing before your ears as uncertainty increases and fake news rumbles on; during which aliens invade, Phillipps scales the walls beyond abandon as he probes the minutiae of worlds within worlds and the hourglass fills.
A landmark album from one of the great modern songwriters, it’s pure pop music for the new normal and we can’t wait to see how it ends…
The Chills are: Martin Phillipps (guitar and vocals), Callum Hampton (bass and backing vocals), Todd Knudson (drums and backing vocals), Erica Scally (guitar, keyboards, violin and backing vocals) and Oli Wilson (keyboards and backing vocals).