Chromatics (band)

Chromatics is an American electronic music band from Portland, Oregon, formed in 2001. The band consists of Ruth Radelet (vocals, guitar, synthesizer), Adam Miller (guitar, vocoder), Nat Walker (drums, synthesizer), and Johnny Jewel (producer, multi-instrumentalist). The band originally featured a trademark sound indebted to punk and lo-fi that was described as "noisy" and "chaotic".^[1] After numerous lineup changes, which left guitarist Adam Miller as the sole original member, the band began releasing material on the Italians Do It Better record label in 2007, with their style streamlined into a electropunk-Italo disco indebted sound.

The band began incorporating elements of synthpop and post-punk on their third release, Night Drive (2007), which was met with critical acclaim, and their fourth album, Kill for Love, was released March 26, 2012. Several of the band's songs have been featured in television series such as Gossip Girl and Bates Motel, and their track "Tick of the Clock" was featured in the film Drive (2011).^[2] In December 2014, the band announced their fifth studio album, titled Dear Tommy, that was preceded by a number of singles throughout the year.^[3]

History

2001: A solo project on a 4-track

Chromatics' first 7", "Beach of Infants/Steps", was a solo project of Adam Miller. It was released by Hand Held Heart. Throughout the years since, Miller has remained Chromatics' sole consistent member. The tracks were recorded in Seattle, Washington, on a Tascam 4-track. By the time the 7" was released, Chromatics had scaled up to a four-piece.

2002–03: From the Vogue to the Soiled Doves to Chromatics

While barely out of high school, The Vogue garnered media attention around Seattle for creating art punk that drew comparisons to The Fall.^[4] This band featured Johnny Whitney of The Blood Brothers on vocals and Hannah Blilie who went on to play drums in The Gossip. After The Vogue's keyboardist departed, the remainder formed Soiled Doves, releasing one 7" and one album. Although Chromatics began as a solo project for Adam Miller, he quickly added most of The Soiled Doves' lineup — moving from bass, Adam Miller became the vocalist; Devin Welch, guitarist, whom Miller had previously played with in The Vogue and The Soiled Doves; Michelle Nolan, bassist, the one new addition; and Hannah Blilie, drummer, whom Miller and Welch had played with in The Vogue and Soiled Doves. After releasing their debut album Chrome Rats vs. Basement Rutz in 2003 on Gold Standard Laboratories, all members except Miller left to form Shoplifting.

2003-05: Stripped down

Miller and a revamped lineup released the band's second studio album, Plaster Hounds, in 2004 on Gold Standard Laboratories. This lineup featured Adam Miller performing double duty on guitar and vocals, with Nat Sahlstrom on bass and the Get Hustle's Ron Avila on percussion. The lineup changed once again, as Miller played many of the same songs from the "Plaster Hounds" era with Lena Okazaki replacing Sahlstrom on bass and a drum machine replacing the free jazz-influenced percussive style of Avila. This lineup of Miller and Okazaki released a few CD-Rs, still in the lo-fi art punk style that had been established, but the addition of the drum machine hinted at the major stylistic shift to come.

While Miller's CD-Rs with Okazaki hinted at an electronic direction, Okazaki left the band and Chromatics went through their largest reinvention around 2005, becoming the quartet of Miller, Ruth Radelet, Johnny Jewel, and Nat Walker. This resulted in a gradual but dramatic shift in the band's sound and live performance. Chromatics have often toured the world with labelmates Glass Candy, since Jewel plays in both bands, as well as Desire, a side project of Jewel and Walker. Walker and Jewel also have an instrumental project called Symmetry.

2006–10: Night Drive

Chromatics' third studio album, Night Drive, was released in 2007 on Italians Do It Better, the band's most acclaimed release.^[5] On Night Drive, the group ditched their "hairy noise-rock troupe" aesthetic in favor of a "neatly groomed pop-dance quartet". In their review of the album, Pitchfork noted that "the transformation of Chromatics has been so effortless that it's still easy to be wowed by the results", adding that "listeners who are only familiar with the band's forays into shambling punk will certainly be surprised by Night Drive's assured songwriting".^[5]

Various songs from Night Drive have been licensed for usage in multiple Hollywood films, television shows, international television and internet advertisements, and runway shows.

Other releases have included the Nite and In Shining Violence EPs. In 2007, Chromatics' non-album tracks "In the City" and "Hands in the Dark", as well as a demo of Night Drive's "The Killing Spree", were featured on the Italians Do It Better compilation album After Dark.

2011–13: Kill for Love

Chromatics performing at La Route du Rock festival in 2012

Chromatics gained recognition for their song "Tick of the Clock" which was featured in the heralded 2011 film Drive and its soundtrack,^[6][7] a feature film released in September 2011 by director Nicolas Winding Refn.^[8] On December 23, 2011, Jewel and Walker—under the name Symmetry—released Themes for an Imaginary Film, which was described by Pitchfork as Jewel's "most ambitious project to date: a sprawling, 37-track, two-hour collection of cinematic noir-electro", featuring contributions from Chromatics and fellow Italians Do It Better acts Glass Candy, Desire and Mirage.^[9]

On October 23, 2011, Chromatics released the title track from their then-upcoming fourth studio album, Kill for Love. Reviews described the single as a "really hypnotizing, fascinating song that will definitely get you psyched for the record—Ruth Radalet warmly croons her sweet, cryptic confessional lyrics while her band effortlessly weaves a bubbling, dreamy, New Order-esque soundscape."^[10]

The Fader mentioned, "Maybe Kill for Love will inaugurate a sea change where artists come to terms with themselves and start being open about how they sound when they sing. In basement studios everywhere, young vocalists will blink three times and start x-ing out effects in Ableton, look at the mirror for the first time in weeks, deep into their beady, sun-deprived eyes and whisper, "God, there are no shortcuts... Kill for Love continues the band's penchant for popular-sound defiance that made Chromatics so exciting in the first place."^[11]

After waiting patiently, Chromatics have begun to reach fans "five years after the release of their incredibly prescient Night Drive album."^[12] On February 11, 2012, the band leaked a second track from Kill for Love, "Into the Black". Chromatics followed their second leak with three additional tracks, "Lady", "Candy" and on March 11, 2012 their fifth leak "Back from the Grave".

As fans anticipated the album, Jewel mentioned that the process of creating Kill for Love resulted in a total of 36 tracks that have been narrowed down to 17 for the album.^[13]

Chromatics' fourth studio album, Kill for Love, was released on March 26, 2012. The album has been described as sounding like a "time warp ... a warm collision of past, present, and future."^[14] On May 7, 2012, the group released an alternative version of Kill for Love for free download, featuring eleven songs from the original album with no drums or percussion.^[15] Songs from Kill for Love have been featured in television shows such as Revenge, Gossip Girl, Parenthood, and Bates Motel. Kill for Love was named the eighth best album of 2012 by Pitchfork.

2014–present: Dear Tommy

On December 4, 2014, the band announced their fifth studio album, Dear Tommy.^[16] The album was preceded by the singles "Just Like You", "I Can Never Be Myself When You're Around", and "In Films".^[17]

On February 3, 2015, Chromatics released the three-track single "Yes (Love Theme from Lost River)",^[18] which is included in the trailer and soundtrack for Ryan Gosling's directorial debut, Lost River. The soundtrack was released on March 30 by Italians Do It Better, while the film was released on April 10.^[19] The song "Shadow" was made available on September 9.^[20] On November 5, Chromatics released seven cover versions of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".^[21] The band released a music video for the title track "Dear Tommy" on August 25, 2016.^[22]

Honors and awards

Chromatics were invited by Karl Lagerfeld to play the Chanel Spring Summer 2013 fashion show in Paris in early October. The band was put above the runway, overlooking the whole catwalk and creating a dreamy ambience. Chromatics performed about five new and old songs.^[23]

Tours

Chromatics have played at numerous music festivals around the world, such as the Paris Pitchfork Music Festival and Barcelona Primavera in 2012.^[24][25] In September 2013, the band opened for English band The xx at the Hollywood Bowl.^[26]

Members

• Ruth Radelet – vocals, guitar, synthesizer
• Adam Miller – guitar, vocoder
• Nat Walker – drums, synthesizer
• Johnny Jewel – programming, production

Discography

Studio albums

• Chrome Rats vs. Basement Rutz (Gold Standard Laboratories, 2003)
• Plaster Hounds (Gold Standard Laboratories, 2004)
• Night Drive (Italians Do It Better, 2007)
• Kill for Love (Italians Do It Better, 2012)

Extended plays

• Cavecare (Hand Held Heart, 2002)
• Nite (Italians Do It Better, 2006)
• In Shining Violence (Italians Do It Better, 2007)
• In the City (Italians Do It Better, 2010)
• Running from the Sun (Italians Do It Better, 2012)^[27]

Singles

• "Beach of Infants"/"Steps" (Hand Held Heart, 2001)
• "Arms Slither Away"/"Skill Fall" (K, 2002)
• "Ice Hatchets"/"Curtains" (Gold Standard Laboratories, 2003)
• "Healer"/"Witness" (Italians Do It Better, 2005)
• "Tick of the Clock" (Italians Do It Better, 2013)^[28]
• "Cherry" (Italians Do It Better, 2013)^[29]
• "These Streets Will Never Look the Same" (Italians Do It Better, 2013)^[30]
• "Yes (Love Theme from Lost River)" (Italians Do It Better, 2015)^[18]
• "Just Like You" (Italians Do It Better, 2015)^[31]
• "I Can Never Be Myself When You're Around" (Italians Do It Better, 2015)^[32]
• "In Films" (Italians Do It Better, 2015)^[33]
• "Shadow" (Italians Do It Better, 2015)^[34]
• "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (Italians Do It Better, 2015)^[35]

Guest appearances

References

External links

• Chromatics on Facebook
• Chromatics at AllMusic
• Italians Do It Better
• Echo Park Records