Chromatics

Founded in Portland, Oregon in 2001, Chromatics was an indie / electronic group founded by musician, songwriter, and vocalist Adam Miller, the band’s only constant member during their 20-year career. Originally a solo project, Miller recorded the debut single, “Beach of Infants”, on a four-track recorder and released it in 2001 under the band name Chromatics. Adam Miller was also a member of alternative rock group the Vogue, who had changed their name to Soiled Doves until their split in 2001. Adam Miller then recruited most of his former Soiled Doves bandmates to create the first line-up of Chromatics. After the release of their debut album, Chrome Rats vs. Basement Rutz (2003), the other band members left the group to form Shoplifting. With a new line-up, the second Chromatics album, Plaster Hounds, was released in 2004. Adam Miller brought in a new line-up to record 2007’s Night Drive, which was a big stylistic change for the group, moving from alt-rock to electronic rock / synthpop. Night Drive featured Chromatics’ popular cover of Kate Bush’s classic “Running Up That Hill” as well as several songs that were licensed to motion pictures (including 2011’s Drive), TV shows, and advertisements. Their fourth album, Kill for Love (2012), which climbed to Number 11 on Billboard’s Dance / Electronic Album chart. Kill for Love became their most successful album to date, ending up on many ‘best of’ lists for 2012. A prolific singles band, Chromatics released many singles and EPs during their 20-year career including “Cherry” (2013), “Just Like You” (2015), “Shadow” (2015”, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (2015), and many more. The digital EP Cherry (2013), was eventually issued on vinyl in 2016 and then saw an expanded CD edition in 2017. Their long-awaited studio album Closer to Grey was released in 2019, which had been recorded after an aborted – and unreleased – album titled Dear Tommy. In 2020, Chromatics released Faded Now, a collection of remixes, new songs, and cover versions. In August of 2021, Chromatics announced their breakup and each band member went on to pursue their own solo projects.