News of a new studio album by The Chills (the first in nearly 20 years since 1996’s terrific ‘Sunburnt’) filled me with delight. Anticipation, yeah, yeah, yeah… The moment of pleasure is so much better.
‘Silver Bullets’ is the best Chills album ever because it is the only new Chills album this year. And even if it was not I’d be wagering that it would be a firm contender for the songs here are every bit as fine as anything that has come before. Which, when you stop to think about it and listen again to the backstory is some mighty claim. But really, really, ‘Silver Bullets’ is just so insanely delicious. Like every Chills record ever made ’Silver Bullets' is filled with songs that challenge and cheer. Martin Phillips’ way with a tune so effervescent and uplifting, cloaking lyrics that are just ever so dark, melancholy and provocative is as effortlessly proven here as anywhere in that back catalogue. And if, on occasion, those lyrics come over as ever-so-slightly naive, clumsy and hopelessly idealistic I rather think it makes one wonder why one doesn’t still feel the same as Phillips. What did we lose? When did we lose it? How can we get it back?
‘Silver Bullets’ is a record of hope and despair, of wonder and weariness. I love it every bit as much as I love every other Chills record I have ever owned.
‘Silver Bullets’ is available from Fire Records and other online purveyors of recorded music. If you are lucky enough to have a real record store close to you, you’ll probably find it there too.
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