When I think of New Zealand music, spawned way down here at the bottom of the world, the very first thing that always pops into my brain is the brooding, bouncy opening chords of The Chills’ “Pink Frost.”
Martin Phillipps, the lead singer and driving force behind the Chills, died this weekend at just 61 years old, and for any fan of NZ music, it hits hard. Gorgeous and mysterious and intimate and epic, the best of the Chills’ music evoked New Zealand for me in a way that nothing else quite ever could. There is a beautiful mystery to it.
I wrote a lengthy post back in 2019 about Phillipps and the Chills after being fortunate enough to see him at the premiere of the excellent documentary on the band’s twisting career: Martin Phillipps and the endless cool of the Chills.
It says everything I still feel now about this wonderful curiosity of a band, who maybe never quite became a household name in the wider world, but who had a knack for perhaps music’s most elusive, perfect quality – the ability to instantly send you away, into a new place.
Thanks for everything, Martin. The music lives on. Crank up “Heavenly Pop Hit” and enjoy what he left behind.
Nik Dirga 