Chromatics

Cherry

Ruth Radelet sings about a girl who keeps up a sweet front for her friends while running from her own trouble. Airy synth-pop over a funk bass line, chorus-soaked guitars and choirs, sad and warm at the same time – one of the purest pop songs Chromatics ever made. It was an early preview of After Dark 2, the Italians Do It Better label compilation that came out on May 17, 2013, almost five years after the first.

Written by Adam Miller and Johnny Jewel. Produced by Johnny Jewel. Vocals by Ruth Radelet. Guitars by Miller and Jewel. Bass, synthesizers, drums, strings, choirs and pianos by Jewel. Additional percussion by Nathaniel Miller. Recorded in Montreal. The video was filmed by Jewel upstairs on Division Street in Southeast Portland in October 2012 and first shown on November 25, 2012 (Italians Do It Better Films; re-uploaded October 11, 2026). Track ten on After Dark 2, Italians Do It Better, 2013. Sources: KEXP, Wikipedia. Photograph: Pierre-Louis Pierson, Scherzo di Follia, 1863–66, a portrait of the Countess de Castiglione, who directed her own pictures. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.