Adam Miller, founding member of erstwhile and highly influential band Chromatics, has released his first musical statement since he, Ruth Radelet, and Nat Walker announced the group’s end in August.
“Erosion,” a potently entrancing contemplation of minor-key ambient synths, is the first single from Miller’s forthcoming Vini Reilly-nodding debut solo album, Gateway. It marks a noteworthy (and captivating) turn from Chromatics’ early indie/no-wave of 15-20 years ago and the band’s later (and more well known) dark disco, synth-pop, and dream pop sounds, but you still hear the contemplative framework the band’s main guitarist and occasional lead singer infused into the cinematic instrumentals on albums like Kill For Love and Closer to Grey.
You can pre-order digital, CD, and LP iterations of Gateway now via Miller’s Inner Magic label. The official release date is Feb. 11.
In the video, directed by Bernard Schwartz for The Cogozzo Group and shot on VHS by Schwartz and Ellen Wong, the viewer finds a wash of imagery that expertly complements the wave-like ebb and flow of the song’s stark but warm minimalism.
In a statement, the LA-based Miller says the entire album originally began as a series of meditations:
“When I’m in a good workflow, I usually start my day off by just picking up a guitar, zoning out, and recording whatever is passing through the quantum field at the time. It’s a visceral process. I’m not even really paying attention to what I’m doing as I’m recording. I’m usually at my purest creatively at the very beginning of the day, and over the years, I’ve recorded whatever happens in the moment and then organized that material into a library that I’ve continued to draw from.”
All in all, this is an exciting project arising from the ashes of Chromatics. I can’t wait for the entire album to come out. I’m also intrigued to hear what Radelet, who was Chromatics’ lead singer and occasional guitarist and synth player, and Walker, formerly the band’s drummer and occasional synth contributor, have in store for us. (For a hint at the latter’s almost Bristolian inclinations, follow him on Instagram.)
