Chromatics: Artist You Should Know

Five years after the release of their incredibly prescient “Night Drive” album, Portland’s Chromatics are on the verge of unleashing their follow up, “Kill For Love” in the next few weeks. Over the last month or so, the band have been teasing out free mp3s (most recently their Neil Young cover on their soundcloud page) and videos, the latest of which, “Lady“, dropped over the weekend. Directed by Italians Do It Better‘s mysterious go-to director, Alberto Rossini, it shimmers and crackles with all the disco/giallo vibes we’ve come to expect from the Italians… aesthetic.

Restless producer and band member Johnny Jewel (who additionally does quadruple duty as member and producer for not only Chromatics, but also Glass Candy, Desire, and as co-founder/owner of the Italians… label) also cut his teeth on film scoring last year with some work for the cult smash Drive. For a variety of reasons, the score he created was not used, but (thankfully) has been released under the name “Symmetry” for our greater night drive use.

This coming weekend, Chromatics are having a “Kill For Love” record release show at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts. Abe Vigoda will also be performing and the legendary David Scott Stone, and yours truly will be providing the DJ situation for the event. More info is available here.

— Mario Cotto