Earlier this summer, Fire Records announced a “special ongoing partnership” with New Zealand indie-pop legends The Chills, and quickly followed that up with the release of the band’s first new song in nine years, “Molten Gold.” Now comes the first release of the new partnership: a triple LP live album called Somewhere Beautiful.
The live set is being billed as a collaboration between The Chills and contemporary artist Shane Cotton, with each copy coming with a unique art print of Cotton’s work inscribed with Martin Phillipps‘ lyrics. The label notes: “Music and art are brought together in this contemporary object, where text intertwines with image in order to generate the sensational and the unexpected.”
The album itself was recorded live during a Chills performance at a private party on New Year’s Eve 2011 in Central Otago, N.Z. The performance featured Phillipps backed by Erica Stichbury on keyboards, electric violin, rhythm guitar and backing vocals; Oli Wilson on keyboards and backing vocals; James Dickson on bass and backing vocals; and Todd Knudson on Drums.
Phillipps says:
“The third ever five-piece Chills (out of some twenty Chills line-ups) kicked into action over five years ago — and wonderful things began to happen! Soon we were asked to play at a private gig near Queenstown in New Zealand’s South Island for a combined birthday party and New Year’s Eve gig at the end of 2011. Of course equipment failed, all the things that should go wrong did their best to do so — but yet! we caught on tape (in the modern digital sense that is) a wonderful night, with many happy people enjoying The Chills in a raw but warm, relaxed and rewarding situation. The recording has been tidied up as little as possible — but as much as was necessary, and here it is!”
Below, you can see the full tracklist and stream one of the record’s songs — a live rendition of “Night of Chill Blue,” off 1987’s Brave Words.
Tracklist: The Chills, Somewhere Beautiful
1. “Night Of Chill Blue”
2. “Wet Blanket”
3. “Lost in Space”
4. “Part Past Part Fiction”
5. “I Think I’d Thought I’d Nothing Else To Think About”
6. “House With A Hundred Rooms”
7. “The Other”
8. “Walk On The Beach”
9. “Submarine Bells”
10. “True Romance”
11. “The Male Monster From The Id”
12. “Pink Frost”
13. “Soft Bomb Part One”
14. “February”
15. “Matthew And Son”
16. “Effloresce And Deliquesce”
17. “Canterbury Go!”
18. “Heavenly Pop Hit”
19. “I Love My Leather Jacket”
20. “Rolling Moon”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Stream: The Chills, ‘Molten Gold’ — first new song in nearly a decade
- The Chills to play 30th anniversary concert in New Zealand, release special live album
Got this in the post a few weeks ago, finally listening to it today… it is pretty excellent! Beautiful art and really fantastic sounding too, there are definitely reminders that it is live, but they are reminders, you don’t really notice except for a song or two
Can’t wait for the new album too (seems like that is in the works and a tour after perhaps, whoop!)
One of the great criminally unfamous bands.
If you want a starting point track down 1995’s “Heavenly Pop Hits – The Best of the Chills”, a compilation that includes remixes that address production shortcomings of earlier songs.
Melodic & beautiful music.