Three members of Chromatics have announced the end of the electro-pop band. Ruth Radelet, Adam Miller and Nat Walker signed a statement that was shared on Radalet and Miller’s Instagram accounts. “After a long period of reflection, the three of us made the difficult decision to end Chromatics,” the statement said. “We would like to thank all of our fans and friends we found along the way – we are eternally grateful for your love and support.” The full statement can be found below.
Nowhere in the announcement is there any mention of Johnny Jewel, who toured with the group, produced a number of Chromatics recordings, and founded the Italians Do It Better label, which released several of the band’s albums. But in an email to Pitchfork, a representative from Johnny Jewel and Italians Do It Better confirmed the band’s breakup. “Johnny is very proud of his years of work with the project and will continue to make music and support great art and artists through his label Italians Do It Better,” the representative wrote.
Chromatics was founded in 2001 in Portland, Oregon. They have released over 10 albums in their 20-year run, the last being Faded Now, essentially a deluxe edition of Closer to Gray. Unforgettable, the band made two appearances on Twin Peaks: The Return. Johnny Jewel also said he made tons of music for The Return and later shared some of it on Chromatics’ Themes for Television.
The fate of Chromatics’ highly anticipated, long-delayed LP Dear Tommy remains unclear in light of news of their split. The album was first announced in 2014 and has suffered several setbacks in the years since then. In 2017 it was said that Johnny Jewel had destroyed every copy of the record after a near death experience. The band shared a number of songs from the album, including “Just Like You” and “Shadow”.
In the spring of last year the band released a new tracklist for Dear Tommy. The album should contain unheard versions of the previously released “Just Like You”, “Dear Tommy” and “Time Rider”. An official release date was never announced.
