10 March 2021 - 0 Comments

Martin Phillipps on Destiny

“As I'm facing mortality and lurching closer to the grave I get to wondering how much of my predicament is the fault of my own designs and how much has been influenced by forces beyond my control."

The video was filmed in December 2020, at The Festival of Lights, New Plymouth.

Having announced the release of their seventh studio album Scatterbrain, The Chills announce a nationwide tour for April / May 2021.

Watch the first video Monolith HERE

The Sound, Under The Radar and Banished Music presents

The Chills - Scatterbrain Album Release Tour

April 16 Oamaru Club, Oamaru

April 17 Larnach Castle, Dunedin Arts Festival SOLD OUT

April 18 Festival of Colour, Wanaka

April 30 Cassels Blue Smoke, Christchurch

May 1 Wakatu Hotel, Nelson

May 6 St. Peter's Hall, Paekakariki.

May 7 Meow, Wellington

May 8 The Cabana, Napier

May 9 The Dome, Gisborne

May 13 Totara St, Mount Maunganui

May 14 Powerstation, Auckland

May 15 Town Hall, Raglan

TIckets on sale Monday Feb 22nd at 9am from Banished Music

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.

“It’s about artistic integrity, self- realisation, self-acceptance and a reflection on mortality.” - The Guardian

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.

“There are hard but important truths in our history. I know that it's often said that you learn from those lessons or you'll end up repeating the mistakes” Phillipps attests of Monolith which follows the majestically haunting and fatalistic You’re Immortal in which he examines his current position and nods sage-like to his descendants.

There’s a stark honesty in these songs, the clock is ticking on Hourglass and Destiny with a fragility that sees our narrator fearing the future and even our very understanding of it.

Destiny is the perfect candid observation on just how we’ve messed things up:

“We're finding even more reasons to shut down rational dialogue in an era of fake news and disbelief. Good luck with the new dark ages!”

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 song writers, it’s pure pop music for the new normal and we can’t wait to see how it ends.

About Scatterbrain

"An architect of New Zealand’s fabled Dunedin sound" - Pitchfork

“Just glorious” - The Guardian

“The Chills have never sounded better” - Record Collector

Pre-Order the album HERE https://fire-records.lnk.to/TheChillsScatterbrainID

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