When Chromatics announced a new album was due this year or perhaps early next year, everyone assumed it would be the long-awaited and remade (after being famously destroyed by frontman Johnny Jewel) Dear Tommy. What came instead is the lovely, mysterious, giallo film-inspired Closer to Grey.
The album opens with a stunning rendition of Simon & Garfunkel‘s The Sound of Silence.” Ageless lead singer Ruth Radelet nearly whispers the lyrics and the sparse instrumentation along with her beautiful voice creates a haunting atmosphere that immediately changes the energy around you. Jewel’s keyboards and synth beats on “You’re No Good” bring in some house music touches to lovely effects as Radelet sings, “I know you’re no good, no, but I can’t stay away from you.” I’m sure this was remixed by thousands of DJ’s not long after the album was released.
The title track brings in electro shine and Nat Walker‘s bright guitar licks. The synths on “Twist the Knife” are sharp and stabbing, as benefits the title, and then the heavy synth bass kicks in as Radelet sings, “You can teach me to be cruel, like the way they tortured you. It’s all right.” “Light as a Feather” has a neat dusty, warped record sound to it as Radelet sings about hearing a voice that “sings whispers from the dead.”
“I can rest again, now that the sky is gray. It hasn’t rained here since May,” Radelet sings at the beginning of “Move a Mountain” – a song about loneliness, the kind of which Chromatics do so well. “Touch Red” is another haunting song about awakening the senses (“The world needs color.”). Walker’s guitar work on the instrumental “Through the Looking Glass” reminds me of Love and Rockets tracks.
“Whispers in the Hall” brings us back into giallo territory, with its slasher horror synths and lyrics centered around a woman in peril finding the will to fight (“Little girl the world just wants to trick you. Can’t you see the look in their eyes? Don’t you know the pain will make you stronger? You don’t have to buy into their lies.”). “On the Wall” is the longest song on the album, clocking in at about eight-and-a-half minutes. It has a cool rock vibe throughout it, bringing to mind 1960’s psychedelia and krautrock synth beats.
“Love Theme from Closer to Gray” is the theme to the giallo thriller Johnny Jewel has probably written and is on his way to producing by now. If not, I wish he would because the song drips with foggy atmosphere, hidden menace, and breathy, hot sex. The closer, “Wishing Well,” is not a cover of Terence Trent D’Arby‘s hit (although that would be amazing to hear from Chromatics), but rather a song about unfulfilled desires (“It’s a quiet night in a nowhere town, where the arcade still glows when no one’s around.”) and longing for something beyond our borders – physical and metaphysical. A ticking clock in the middle of it tells us that time is short. We’d better get to work fulfilling our dreams.
Closer to Gray is a welcome addition to not only Chromatics’ catalogue, but also to 2019. It wasn’t a massive surprise when they released it (They were on tour, after all.), but it was a much-needed jolt after a year of anger and self-isolation. It reminds us to embrace our dreams, and each other.
And by the way, Closer to Gray is available for download through the band’s label’s site (Italians Do It Better) for one dollar.
Keep your mind open.
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