While Post-punk legends The Chameleons are gearing up for a brand new full-length album due later this year (their first full-length in over 20 years!), they've released two new EPs Where Are You? and Tomorrow Remember Yesterday - the former consisting of new material and the latter of archival material recorded with the current lineup.
To celebrate this new chapter of The Chameleons, the band is coming to Toronto to celebrate at the Opera House on Monday, April 28, 2025.
SWOMP caught up with vocalist...
While Post-punk legends The Chameleons are gearing up for a brand new full-length album due later this year (their first full-length in over 20 years!), they've released two new EPs Where Are You? and Tomorrow Remember Yesterday - the former consisting of new material and the latter of archival material recorded with the current lineup.
To celebrate this new chapter of The Chameleons, the band is coming to Toronto to celebrate at the Opera House on Monday, April 28, 2025.
SWOMP caught up with vocalist Vox for an interview.
Fans might already know The Chameleons from their massive 1986 hit "Swamp Thing" that still has people flocking to the dancefloor to this day.
Their latest five song EP Tomorrow Remember Yesterday is a collection of newly recorded songs whose origins harken back decades.
"These songs were amongst the very earliest songs we got together pre-Peel session in 1981, but were discarded at the time due to them feeling unfinished. We feel the band is better than ever and it’s nice to see so many people responding to it," Vox said, about the renaissance that the band is experiencing.
The last couple of years have been instrumental for the influential post-punk band whose originals began at the top of the 1980s.
Garnering some of the best reviews and chart positions in the four decades since their start (their 2024 EP Where Are You? landed the #1 position on iTunes Top Albums), the band has also seen their live audience grow as well, especially with young audiences adding an infusion of young blood into their fanbase.
Co-headlining this round of dates with Texas darkwave act Twin Tribes, Chameleons find themselves starting off in Minneapolis on April 25th and moving east, including shows in Chicago (April 26th), Montreal (April 29th), Brooklyn (May 3rd) before concluding in Silver Spring, MD on May 4th.
"It’s always nice to go to a city for the first time, so I’m kind of interested to do that," Vox added.
"The cities that I do know have all been enjoyable to play in the past, and I really relish getting back to them. The bottom line though is we love to play this music and we’re excited to do that no matter where we go."
Tour dates are:
Apr 25 Minneapolis MN Varsity Theater
Apr 26 Chicago IL Vampire’s Ball - Epiphany Center
Apr 28 Toronto ON Opera House
Apr 29 Montreal QC Society for Arts & Technology
Apr 30 Boston MA Big Night Live
May 1 Ardmore PA Ardmore Music Hall
May 2 Norwalk CT District Music Hall
May 3 Brooklyn NY Warsaw
May 4 Silver Spring MD The Fillmore
The Chameleons will also be be opening for The Psychedelic Furs on July 3, 2025 at Caesars Windsor, in place of The Mission.
Chameleons have been gearing up the release of their upcoming album Arctic Moon later 2025 which will be their first studio full-length since 2001’s Why Call It Anything.
"It's quite different from anything Chameleons has done before, and I know this will probably polarize the legacy audience, but we're quite excited about how it's developing," Vox said.
"I think the songwriting is much more mature in a lot of ways, which is to be expected, I suppose, given our age, but I, for one, really believe we're taking the band forward, and I'm quite excited about it."
Not planning on playing too much from the new album (“we don’t really want the songs spoiling on such platforms as YouTube until the record is actually out”), the new album will undoubtedly be embraced by old and new fans alike.
"Our approach to making the music hasn’t changed," Vox added.
"Although having found a regular producer in Christophe Bride at Oxygene has helped out development tremendously. His studio in Manchester, UK is a great environment to work in. We feel our sound is fresher and more contemporary which seems to resonate very strongly with our younger audience that are turning out to see us in such great numbers."
Long cited as a hugely influential act, having inspired the likes of Verve, Oasis, White Lies, The Slow Readers Club, Interpol, The Killers and Editors, among countless others and known for their transformative musical catalog and intense and emotionally charged live performances, Chameleons have created a legacy that extends beyond their four studio albums.
Following their debut single "In Shreds" in 1982, the band released three seminal albums: the widely acclaimed Script of the Bridge (1983), cited by many sources as a masterpiece way ahead of its time, its follow-up What Does Anything Mean? Basically!' (1984), Strange Times (1986), and Why Call It Anything? (2001).
Their unique sound quickly captivated the public through their mix of melancholic yet energetic and powerful tunes, hypnotic, ethereal riffs, and the potent, timeless lyrical style. Chameleons are considered one of the most influential guitar bands of the 80s and 90s, contributing substantially to the post-punk, shoegaze and indie scenes. They are often regarded as one of the most underrated bands ever to emerge from Manchester, England.
Chameleons are Reg Smithies (guitar), Vox (bass, vocals, lyrics), Stephen Rice (guitar), Danny Ashberry (keyboards), and Todd Demma (drums).
Follow the band at https://chameleonsband.com/.
Photo credit: Mick Peek
