The epistolary is an old narrative form, but an endlessly mysterious one. Peering at a letter—one you might not be meant to see, but made public anyway—is ineffably sexy, subversive, and hushed. Chromatics know a thing or two about that feeling: the viscerally erotic pulse of putting your ear to a closed door or parting the lines between venetian blinds to get a gander of something sordid. Their music perfects that mood. Dear Tommy has been promised for the last two years, but only whispers have emerged. The title track has finally arrived, and it seems in all the time we’ve spent twiddling our fingers, refreshing feeds, and looking into space, Johnny Jewel and his friends have been crafting a wonderfully tawdry piece of art.
“Dear Tommy” is a love letter written to a boy (presumably), and it evokes monumental longing and terror. It begins with a tinge of violence: “I see your face/And it only twists the knife.” Adam Miller's voice has been processed to make it feel distant and androgynous, a spectral presence that hangs over the story. He beckons the song forward, inching it along with a palette of thick drums, splattered synths, and icy guitars. The song can almost engulf a listener in its tone of secrecy, in its fury and depth. It’s as if the message at the center of the song is possessed, the lyrics scrawled across these brooding minutes carry sinister energy
