Music Review: The Colour - Between Earth & Sky

The Colour fit right in with the early '00s wave of ‘The’ bands, like The Strokes and The White Stripes, drawing on '70s rock to form their sound. They’re one of the best of this wave of bands that I’ve heard, going a bit more epic than the punk or electro leanings of a lot of their contemporaries. I’m a big fan of blues inspired classic rock, and this album delivers twelve really catchy, fun songs.

Their songs are primarily structured around guitar melodies, and there’s a bunch of driving, catchy riffs pushing the songs forward. There’s also a wide variety of guitar sounds, working both driving lines and lyrical melodies that interplay seamlessly with the vocal, as on "Just a Taste."

Vocalist Wyatt Hull has a unique voice, generally singing pretty high up without crossing over into falsetto. There’s some gorgeous wordless vocals on "Save Yourself" and particularly “Silver Meadows,” creating a fantastic, ethereal atmosphere. The latter is the album’s highlight, with piano and tambourine building into a chorus that just hangs in the air, hitting a really emotional chord. It goes to that bittersweet emotional place without being sappy.

The first song to grab me, and the first single, is “Devil’s Got a Holda Me,” a driving blues rocker that sounds a bit like The White Stripes. It’s got a great stop and go guitar riff, which builds into a descending chorus. It then builds to a multi-vocal stomp, which slows things down, making the return to the chorus even sweeter.

One potential issue with the album is the fact that it isn’t breaking any new ground. I heard pieces of Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, T. Rex, early U2 and others here. If this album had been released in the '70s, it would have probably been a bigger hit, but it would also have been pretty routine. However, you don’t hear this kind of music that much today, and I’m really happy to see it return. It’s always frustrated me that harder edged rock became dominated by bands that just don’t sound good. The heavy distortion of nu-metal and rap rock artists was tough to take, and I much prefer the hard, but not ugly sound of '70s rock. The Colour do some pretty heavy songs, but they never cross over into fits of screaming or nasty sound.

Article Author: Patrick

Patrick Meaney is a filmmaker/reviewer based out of New York. His films are available on RespectFilms.com, and writings at Thoughts on Stuff. His is also the creator of the webseries The Third Age.

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