Is 2018 the year we finally get to hear Dear Tommy? Always with a penchant for tooling and retooling with his many bands’ (Glass Candy, Desire, Chromatics) albums, which has become somewhat expected from his legions of fans, Johnny Jewel and the rest of Chromatics have tentatively (again) set a release date for a followup to 2012’s brilliant Kill For Love –some time in the Fall on Jewel’s Italians Do It Better imprint. Originally announced all the way back in December 2014, Chromatics faithful have had their anticipation quashed time and time again, including reports last year that after completing the record, Jewel decided to demolish every copy and start again from scratch. Kind of. “Dear Tommy has the same titles, same lyrics, same track order, as when it was announced Dec of 2014. Nothing’s changed except it’s better.” quipped Jewel when pressed about the “new” record last year, so at least we have that. And here we are yet again, smack dab in the middle of 2018, with another glimpse of the mystical Chromatics record “Black Walls”, that almost makes everything better in 4 minutes and 53 seconds.
On “Black Walls”, Ruth Radelet’s unmistakable refrain is as simultaneously pained and beautiful as ever; pulling us into Jewel’s web of frigid synths and penetrating guitar. Simple in structure, complex in its execution and moody af, “Black Walls” is textbook Chromatics with an even glossier coating of paint. Watch the video for “Black Walls” below, and cross your fingers there is more to come from Dear Tommy soon.
