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The Chills’ Martin Phillipps leaves a legacy of melancholy brilliance
Phillipps, who has died aged 61, led one of New Zealand’s shining musical exports but the band was dogged by tragedy and his personal struggles
Their 1984 single Pink Frost was the most unsettling: beginning with a sprightly, high guitar figure, it quickly settled into a dark throb as Phillipps told a nightmarish story of being unable to intervene in a lover’s death. Beginning with 2015’s Silver Bullets (one of rock’s most rewarding, and least likely comebacks from oblivion) they toured the world to great acclaim, releasing two more studio albums, Snow Bound and Scatterbrain. It was full of natural imagery (especially aquatic life) and fear for the future: Don’t Be – Memory, from Submarine Bells, features a notably early mention of the threat of global heating; Aurora Corona updated the theme.
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