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Jun 05, 2018 Chromatics By Christopher Roberts

Chromatics don’t like to do things easy. They were supposed to release their new album Dear Tommy in 2015 (it was announced in December 2014). Then frontman Johnny Jewel had a near-death experience in Hawaii on Christmas Day 2015 and afterwards he destroyed all copies of Dear Tommy in order to re-record it to better capture the sound he was going for. The band recently shared a video for a new song, “Black Walls” (which was one of our Songs of the Week) and promised that Dear Tommy will finally come out this fall via Italians Do It Better. But then soon after Jewel released a whole separate album, Themes for Television, which was partly inspired by Twin Peaks. Now the band has surprise released a brand new EP, Camera, but the rub is that it’s a vinyl-only release, there’s no digital stream or download. Meanwhile, Dear Tommy still doesn’t have a new release date yet. But hey, at least Chromatics keep it interesting (and generally release fantastic music). The tracklist for Camera is below (above is the cover art).

A press release describes the EP as such: “The opening track is a love song written from the perspective of the camera, asking to be held up to see the world through the eyes of its user. Chromatics’ dense electronics are anchored by the intimacy of Ruth Radelet’s vocals. Framed by negative space, this is pop music from the blurry hours. She softly sings, ‘I write a song in my head, pretend that I’m lying in your arms.’ The music is minimal and bare, layered with sparse percussion. The Camera EP features unreleased material, including a haunting take on Dear Tommy‘s title track and the midnight mood of ‘Flashback to Forever.’”

Camera EP Tracklist:

Side 1:

1. Camera (3:53)
2. Camera (Vocal) (0:43)
3. Camera (Instrumental) (3:53)
4. Magazine (Club Mix) (3:17)

Side 2:

5. The Taste of Blood (1:04)
6. Flashback to Forever (2:37)
7. Dear Tommy (On Film) (3:17)
8. Magazine (Club Instrumental) (2:37)

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