Just months after the death of New Zealand musician Martin Phillips, the late Chills frontman is set to honor his memory with a newly released posthumous album.
The title of this album is Spring Board: Early Unrecorded Songswhich will be released on February 28, 2025 via Fire Records under the name Chills, is actually the culmination of years of hard work by Phillipps himself.
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In addition to his work as a member of the Chills, Phillips spent the last few years of his life searching through his archives, rediscovering many “light songs and musings” that were revisited and revised before being collected. spring plate. Described as “a dedicated reimagining of his early unreleased songs that served as his artistic farewell”, the record was blessed by his band, family and friends.
“This album seemed like an easy choice,” Phillips said. “All songs require varying degrees of rewriting; a 60-year-old can’t just stick to the lyrics of those formative years. And some songs are just vague memories, incomplete and only blossomed during the recording process.
In addition to his Chills bandmates – including Oli Wilson, Erica Scally, Callum Hampton and Todd Knudson – the record also features appearances from Fur Patrol bandmates Julia Deans, Shona Laing and Neil Finn of Crowded House and Split Enz fame .
Phillips died unexpectedly in July at his home in Dunedin, New Zealand’s South Island. He played an “integral role” on the college town scene in the 1980s and was an “integral part” of Roger Shepherd’s Flying Nun Records family, which included Clean, D4, Headless Chickens and Tall Dwarfs, Chris Knox, Straitjacket Fits and the Verlaine family.
After a long hiatus, Phillips reactivated Chills in 2013 and released a string of new albums supported by a series of national and international tours. Their latest LP, 2021 carelesswill debut at number four on the New Zealand Albums Chart – its highest ranking in nearly 30 years.
