It’s been a while since I’ve updated you, fair readers, on the latest musical releases of former Chromatics members Ruth Radelet, Adam Miller, and Nat Walker. Their latest tunes are a combo of solo efforts and some new songs (or versions of songs) from last year’s Lost Records: Bloom & Rage video game soundtrack, which featured the trio doing some of the most Chromatics-sounding songs since the band dissolved some five years ago.
So here we go, a sampling of what they’ve been up to. (I’m not going for a completionist list, but instead a selection to guide you on your journey into the recent work of these magnificent humans.)
Various Artists — Bloom & Rage: The Lost Tapes
This is a companion piece to last year’s Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Original Game Soundtrack) (Tape 1 & 2), featuring seven unreleased or remixed cuts tied to the original album. Five of the songs are from the trio with another from electropop outfit Milk & Bone and another from the punk group the Nora Kelly Band. Don’t let the “odds and sods” construction dissuade you from snatching these up. As far as I’m concerned, any new song from Radelet, Miller, and Walker is worth paying attention to, and these numbers do indeed quite easily deliver. You get all of the dreaminess and danceability you desire. (I certainly have been playing them a whole lot lately.) Out now via Kid Katana Records.
Inner Magic — Out In The Sun
As you probably know from my interview in February with former longtime Smashing Pumpkins member Jeff Schroeder, he’s now joined forces with Miller to make the later’s Inner Magic project a bona fide duo. Their latest single is “Out In The Sun,” b/w “Annie.” Although both songs are so profoundly good that it feels more like a double A-side. They pair the catchy with the transcendent. Out now.
Nat Walker — “Jasmine”
Walker contributed a lot to the releases of his former IDIB bands (Chromatics, Symmetry, Desire, etc.). However, as under-the-radar as his musical talent has been, for years people weren’t aware of just how deftly he can wield the lofi jazzy beats. Over the past few years, he’s released a bunch of these tracks (and albums) under his own name (and previously under a host of pseudonyms). One of his latest is the delightful “Jasmine,” which I wish was about 4 minutes longer. Out via Fortune Cooking Records. (Of course, he’s also one of two people in the shoegazey psychedelic musical project Fawn that he started with his wife, Ida No, formerly of Glass Candy.)
BONUS ICYMI MATERIAL: Interview with Ruth; interview with Miller; Walker getting Physical. Of course, since 2014 Vehlinggo has covered these three more extensively than that. Head over to Your Own Personal Vehlinggo and let the machines guide you.
