With a sound that was equal parts driving and dreamy, The Chameleons’ three original ’80s albums have influenced everything from the ’00s post-punk revival (Interpol, Editors, The Horrors) to the current shoegaze revival. The band never got their due during their original run, though, and broke up shortly after releasing their major label debut, 1986’s Strange Times, thanks to the record industry grist mill and some particularly bitter infighting. Improbably, all four members reunited in 2001 resulting in a pretty good fourth album, Why Call it Anything?, and some unbelievably good shows before those interpersonal differences reared their ugly head again and caused the band to split once more. Singer/bassist Mark Burgess toured as ChameleonsVOX, often with pick-up players in different cities, but sometimes with powerhouse Chameleons drummer John Lever who sadly died in 2017. Burgess and guitarist Reg Smithies reconnected during the pandemic, recruited a steady new lineup to reform The Chameleons in 2021, and announced a new album was in the works. It’s titled Arctic Moon and details are still scant, but they’ve just released this three-song EP, Where Are You?, as a taster.
The Chameleons’ first new music in 23 years is pretty darn good. “Where Are You?,” which will be on the album, is as anthemic and hooky as you might expect, though sonically this may be a little more rock than some fans may be expecting; it’s closer to their earliest material like “In Shreds” than the more textural side many of us associate with the band. Still, the song itself is fantastic, there’s real electricity in the recording and Burgess’ bellowing baritone is as strong as ever. As for the rest of the EP, “Endlessly Falling” is a very early, previously unrecorded Chameleons song whose title is a phrase Burgess would reuse on “Death of Imagination” with his post-Chameleons band, The Sun & The Moon. The EP ends with delicate ballad “Forever” that is just Burgess and Smithies and is quite lovely. The only ding on the EP is that Reg Smithies, whose illustrations have graced most if not all of The Chameleons’ releases, did not do the art for this.
Listen to Where Are You? below.
The Chameleons will be on tour starting next week, playing 1986’s Strange Times in full. The NYC stop is at Webster Hall on August 16. All dates:
The Chameleons – 2024 Tour Dates
May 30 San Diego CA Music Box
May 31 Los Angeles CA The Belasco
Jun 4 Vancouver BC The Pearl
Jun 5 Seattle WA El Corazon
Jun 6 Portland OR Hawthorne Theater
Jun 7 Sacramento CA Harlow’s
Jun 8 San Francisco CA Great American Music Hall
Jun 9 San Francisco CA Great American Music Hall
Jun 11 Salt Lake City UT Urban Lounge
Jun 12 Denver CO Oriental Theater
Jun 13 Kansas City MO recordBar
Jun 14 Dallas TX Sundown at The Granada
Jun 15 Houston TX Dark Ceremony Festival
Jun 17 El Paso TX Lowbrow Palace
Jun 18 Albuquerque NM Launchpad
Jun 19 Tucson AZ 191 Toole
Jun 20 Phoenix AZ Last Exit Live
Aug 8 Philadelphia PA Underground Arts
Aug 9 New Haven CT Space Ballroom
Aug 10 Boston MA The Sinclair
Aug 12 Montreal QC Theatre Fairmount
Aug 13 Toronto ON Opera House
Aug 14 Buffalo NY Town Ballroom
Aug 15 Pittsburgh PA Spirit Hall
Aug 16 New York NY Webster Hall
Aug 17 Washington DC Black Cat