Album of the Week: 'Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs' by The Chills

With the passing of Martin Phillips, legendary indie rock band The Chills make a triumphant farewell on final album.

Across 20 tracks, Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs brims with the wry observations and catchy melodies that led to a cult following since the early '80s.

Alongside groups like The Clean and The Verlaines, who the early Chills lineups shared members with, Martin Phillips and The Chills helped to pioneer an influential style of indie rock known as the Dunedin Sound, named for the city they called home in New Zealand.

Coinciding with the boom of college radio in the States, The Chills and their contemporaries, most centered around the Flying Nun record label, would become hugely important to the burgeoning "indie rock" scene. Groups like R.E.M, Pavement, Yo La Tengo and many more list them as an influence.

In 2023, Phillips was in the studio working on a new album when he died after a long battle with hepatitis C and liver failure. The songs on Spring Board are collected from throughout Phillips career, all previously unreleased.

They showcase the brilliant writing of Phillips, the main figure and only full-time member of the band from its inception to its end.

There is no information given on when each song was written, but early standout track "If This World Was Made For Me" is reminiscent of the band's haunting early work with the minor key guitar riff and hushed vocals. It introduces Phillips' ever-present dry humor with "24 hours of great TV" being one of the things his world would feature, as well as the backing vocals of bandmate Erica Scally.

Throughout the album, some of the most breathtaking moments come when Scally's voice joins Phillips', like the tongue in cheek "funny" chorus of "Slime," or the repetition of the line "Meet Me Eyes" in the song of the same name. The latter is one of those songs that has surprisingly few lyrics, with much of the songs' variety coming from the surprisingly upbeat guitar line.

Although these two songs, and others on the album, are seemingly about troubles in interpersonal relationships, much of The Chills' final album contains a healthy of amount of positivity and warmth.

From the commitment to getting back on your feet of "Learn To Try Again," to the earnest declaration of support on "I'll Protect You," it's a far cry from their most well-known song, the chilly and tormented "Pink Frost."

Again, without knowing when each song was written, I can only guess that a good portion of the songs were written later in Phillips' life, showcasing a new outlook on life for a man who overcame numerous setbacks. Never able to to keep a steady lineup of The Chills, Phillips was always one step away from success, leading to alcoholism and drug use, which was suspected of leading to hepatitis C.

At one point the singer was even given less than a year to live, but survived with the help of experimental drug treatments.

Phillips' tone and lyrics on these songs seem to show him at peace with his situation in life. Nowhere is this more apparent than the the closer to the album (made all the more eerie by his passing during the recording process), "I Don't Want To Live Forever."

From the lyrics to the cheerful instrumentation, the song is an intensely postive acceptance of his death, whenever that might come.

"I never wished for ways to shape my destiny/ Never looked for endless immortality/ (Be)cause what I'm here for is friends, art and family."

A fitting message and a fitting ending to The Chills' final album.

• "Dolphins"
• "Learn To Try Again"
• "If This World Was Made For Me"
• "I'll Protect You"
• "Stay Longer"
• "Slime"
• "Meet My Eyes"
• "Watching Old Home Movies"
• "I Saw Your Silhouette"
• "I Don't Want To Live Forever"