THE CHILLS Martin Phillipps - Monolith 2021

After the Chills’ 1996 LP Sunburnt, we didn’t hear another studio effort from Martin Phillipps and crew until 2015’s Silver Bullets. Fortunately, the singularly great New Zealand songwriter—apparently doing well after a life-threatening battle with hepatitis C—doesn’t want, or need, to take another long break, as we’ve been treated to two records since: 2018’s Snow Bound and this year’s Scatterbrain (Fire). Here’s to many more years of Phillipps’ good health and the beautiful, melodic pop he continues to craft.