the-avalanches-wildflower-cd-agambiarra

The Avalanches’ Robbie Chater Reveals He has Autoimmune Disease

After 16 years, last week (exclusively via Apple Music) we were finally in possession of The Avalanches new album, their second since 2000’s Since I Left You, leaving many of us feeling incredibly old. Many more wondered if it would ever appear after such a long and frustrating wait.

Robbie Chater, one of the three multi-instrumentalists from the group, elaborated in an interview with Pitchfork the reasons behind such a lengthy period between albums. In the mid-2000s he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease which played a large part in the delay of Wildflower. “There were three years in the mid-2000s when I was really unwell. I was diagnosed with a couple of separate autoimmune diseases, so I was out of action,” he stated.

The news comes as a shock to fans of The Avalanches, a group notorious for playing their cards incredibly close to their chests. Autoimmune diseases mean the body responds in an abnormal manner to substances and tissues that are normally present within it, meaning they come in many forms.

Chater also mentioned that perfectionism and sample clearance had a lot to do with the delay as well, “As far as samples, they started clearing stuff years ago, but then there would be some hold-up and they’d have to go back and renegotiate.” Chater said. “People would give permission for us to use the sample, and then a certain amount of time would elapse and they would Google who the band is and be like, ‘Oh shit, I can ask for more money?’ That sort of thing took forever.”

We wish Chater all the best and hope that the disease doesn’t continue to hold him back. Be sure to grab a copy of Wildflower this Friday, July 8 or stream it via our review here.

Image: Imgur