Get ready for the next special release of Chapterhouse, one that could embezzle you out of your pockets for a while but that will surely be worth it, because we are talking about a box with all your long albums, EPs, singles, remixes, B-sides and six CDs.
The title of the boxset is “Chapterhouse: Chronology” and if everything goes according to plan, it will be next May 26th when it goes on sale with the Sonic Cathedral label. In addition, for their fans shoegazers more nailed, we have more good news, translated into 20 surprises of recordings never before shared, notes of notes, unpublished images and new interviews with the members of the group.
The band formed in 1987, a young band from Reading were in the process of taking their first tentative steps onto the music scene. One where a sea of distorted guitars, wah-wah pedals and subsequently amp stacks, created this sea of sound that would be termed shoegazing. This band rehearsed for well over a year, before finally committing these sounds to a demo tape so that it would find its way to the newly formed Dedicated record label. Dedicated was to release the band’s first EP, “Freefall”, which was soon to be followed by the “Sunburst” EP. Released in 1990, “Freefall’s” cover was to feature Andrew Sherriff, Gibson 335 guitar in hand, his long hair something that came to identify early shoe gazers, crowning this frontman.
The band were Chapterhouse and would record two studio albums, “Whirlpool” in 1991 and “Blood Music” two years later. Listening to the band again, it’s like slipping on that favourite pair of denims, and discovering they still fit as comfortably as they did in 1991 . Following their split in 1994, in 1996 label Dedicated released “Roundabout”, a double album compilation, which featured 38 tracks highlighting the band’s career. Sony was to release a 15-track best-of compilation in 2007. But in May 2023 Cherry Red provides this band with the compilation they deserve, giving fans a 79-track, 6-CD collection, which has been curated by the band themselves and includes 20 previously unreleased recordings, including written interviews with the band, along with memorabilia and imagery from the group’s own archive.
For Chapterhouse fans, this is The Holy Grail, but we should note this is not just for fans of the band that this release may find listeners.
As previously mentioned the band’s two released albums find a place here, along with B-sides, remixes and demos, 20 of these being previously unreleased. Otherwise, these could be numbers of a later Chapterhouse, rather than their raucous beginnings, although the much-lauded track ‘Die Die Die’, where nearly 12 minutes of hard noise were played with a simple, if not grinding riff, is also included on disc 5. The same goes for the once-withdrawn (for copyright reasons) “Blood Music: Pentamerous Metamorphosis”, which has now been remastered to clear these issues. Having bought “Bloodmusic” in 1993, where the original “Pentamerous Metamorphosis” was included, this original recording is a prize in my record collection, albeit now slightly shorter than the remastered version. If you were about in the early to mid-90s or perhaps wished you were, this very reasonably priced collection of tunes is a must. These recordings document a band’s history during these burgeoning times in indie music, and I would hope that once a shoegazer, then always a shoegazer.
The Fat Angel Sings 