VIA PRESS RELEASE | “The songwriter that helped kick off indie rock as we know it.” —NPR
Remixed and remastered under the supervision of Martin Phillipps, this expanded edition of The Chills’ debut album is reissued for the first time in over 35 years. The newly mixed edition features additional rarities and unreleased tracks from The Chills vaults, along with brand new reimagined artwork by Martin Phillipps and additional liner notes.
Originally produced by Mayo Thompson (Pere Ubu/Red Krayola) and featuring standout tracks “Wet Blanket,” “Night Of Chills Blue,” this extended 18 track edition includes much-lauded tracks from the era, such as “House With A Hundred Rooms” and the awesome “Party In My Heart.”
“I have always felt we’d buried a lot of the real performance from that Chills line-up beneath too much eighties reverb and then the mastering did us no favours. The arrival of producer Greg Haver who we had worked with on our 2018 album, Snow Bound, not only understood what we were hoping to achieve but had actually recorded at the Point Studios in the eighties—so he knew the layout, the desk, the microphones and so on.” —Martin Phillipps
The Chills reissue their celebrated early singles compilation, this 24-track expanded version of Kaleidoscope World gathers together tracks from the Dunedin Double compilation, live recordings, “Doledrums” single and the band’s seminal “Pink Frost.”
The collection also contains “The Lost EP,” with early takes on their groundbreaking Submarine Bells album, alongside the aching “I Love My Leather Jacket,” perfectly illustrating the rollercoaster ride of Martin Phillipps and The Chills as portrayed in the award film The Triumph And The Tragedy Of Martin Phillipps.
“Singer/guitarist Martin Phillipps’ group was at the forefront of the extraordinary little guitar-pop scene in New Zealand in the early ’80s. Kaleidoscope World is the major document of their early era.” —Pitchfork
Part of the ’80s extraordinarily vibrant and innovative independent music scene in New Zealand, The Chills became flag bearers, taking the Dunedin sound, as championed by the Flying Nun label, to the world. Long recognised as one of New Zealand’s most influential bands, Kaleidoscope World is a definitive artifact from Martin Phillipps’ groundbreaking project.
