Review: The Chameleons – Arctic Moon

The Chameleons
Arctic Moon
Metropolis Records
Street: 09.12.2025
The Chameleons = 21st Century David Bowie – Dark Star + Tony Visconti 

Formed in 1981 in Middleton, Greater Manchester, The Chameleons caught the attention of BBC Radio’s John Peel and subsequently released three celebrated albums with the classic lineup of vocalist/bassist Mark Burgess, guitarists Reg Smithies and Dave Fielding and drummer John Lever. In 1987, internal tensions and the death of manager Tony Fletcher saw the band split in two with Burgess and Lever forming Sun and the Moon and Smithies and Fielding rebranding as Weaveworld. 

In 2000, the band regrouped for a series of concerts that resulted in a pair of acoustic albums that celebrated the band’s original run and a new album Why Call It Anything. By 2003, the band dissolved. 

In 2009, Burgess began touring the band’s back catalogue under the moniker ChameleonsVox. 2021 saw Burgess and Smithies reconvene. The duo, along with guitarist Chris Oliver and drummer Stephen Rice, began touring as The Chameleons. Rice would be replaced by Todd Demma and keyboardist Danny Ashberry was brought on board to round out the group’s sound. The result was 2024’s spikey post-punk Where Are You? EP. 

2025 sees the release of Arctic Moon, the group’s first album since 2001. Sitting down with the record (or digital files, in this case), I’m presented with a conundrum. Would it be fair to expect an album that sounds like 1987, or even 2003? The absence of Fielding’s guitar is one factor. Time is another. What should The Chameleons sound like, anyway? Was it Burgess, or the interplay of Fielding and Smithies? A bit of both? Undoubtedly, it would depend upon who you ask. 

Arctic Moon doesn’t sound exactly like a place The Chameleons has visited before. Those expecting an extension of Where Are You? might even be surprised by how different Arctic Moon feels. Yes, “Where Are You” is certainly a nice bit of rock ’n’ roll, but it comes with more polish than I was expecting. It’s more post-pop than post-punk. 

There is an obvious David Bowie influence that permeates from the entire album. This goes beyond the name dropping of the atmospheric sixth track, “David Bowie Takes My Hand,” and is most evident on the ballad “Free Me.” This is in no way a criticism. There’s nothing wrong with crafting songs that feel like they were produced by Tony Visconti or act as strange bedfellow to Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter’s Shrunken Heads album. Being Bowie-adjacent isn’t a sin when you wear it well. 

The album’s final track, “Saviours Are a Dangerous Thing,” strays slightly as it introduces a psychedelic swirl and a vocal delivery that feels like a nod to The Damned (who opened for T. Rex in 1977, if you’re looking for the Bowie connection). I’m fond of it. 

The bulk of Arctic Moon is midtempo, beautifully sparse and elegantly hangs on Burgess’ vocals. Outside of some dubious lyrics in “Lady Strange,” it’s well-written and over far too soon.

It’s been a few years since I saw The Chameleons live, but I suspect that the new material sits comfortably next to the older songs. No, it doesn’t sound like “Swamp Thing” or “In Shreds,” but you really shouldn’t expect it to. —Ryan Michael Painter

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