The Colour 'Between Earth And Sky' album

The glut of bands in the LA music scene has a Darwinian effect: if you make it out alive, you’re primed for glory.

The Colour, flagship act for EMI’s new Rethink label, are that peculiar breed of sweltering five-piece. Steeped in an innate sense of rock history, The Colour manage to channel a wide swath of the collective rock consciousness, generating energy not unlike the early Stones or the swaggering ghost of Jim Morrison.

Produced by Jacquire King (Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse, Tom Waits), The Colour’s kinetic, mood-inducing debut, Between Earth and Sky, has a way of displacing you in time, while simultaneously reassuring you you’re much closer to home than you’ve ever been. With an edgy through-line intersecting most of rock’s classic revolutionary movements, Between Earth and Sky remembers the best places it’s been and points to the direction it really ought to go next.

“We’re definitely a collaborative group coming from very different backgrounds,” says guitarist Davey Quon. “Each of us has different views and tastes. There is not one dictating opinion while creating. Somehow when all is said and done our five very different opinions mesh into something beautiful and unique.”

All drawn to Los Angeles from different scattered regions, the group came together in the fall of 2003. While studying art at university, similar tastes and a shared passion for music initiated a tight kinship. Residing collectively for the duration of their career in a small practice studio slowly transformed their friendships to blood. The soul of the band was borne from a desire to learn and share the gift of music and life experiences, wherever the journey leads.

“I was without a home for an extended period,” says vocalist Wyatt Hull. “I showed up on Nathan’s back porch, where eventually he let me live for the duration of the summer before starting the band.”

“We all jumped in,” recalls bassist Derek VanHeule. “We chose poverty over domestication and for most of our career all we have had is the music. There is a beauty to that depravity which holds our purpose.”

Starting from scratch, they toured extensively for three years with ceaseless ambition, across the United States and the UK. With growing acclaim for the bold swagger of their theatric live show, the band members pushed one another to evolve their writing as well, consistently grinding out new material. By the time they signed the Rethink deal and left for Nashville to record, their sound was already fully defined and realized.

“We wanted to make a record in the same fashion as those we actually listen to,” says drummer Nathan Warkentin. “We recorded live to tape and attempted to capture emotion and feeling rather than perfection. Who we are as a band is about the way we play off of one another. You can’t do that if you’re just stacking tracks.”

The Colour brought with them a handful of songs, the fruits of their labor from the last couple years. During the three-month stint, the songs evolved and grew, while new inspiration spawned new material. The songs are lyrically filled with a dark satire on the human condition, touching on the follies of religion, a futile search of satisfaction, a generational yearning for a return to nature, an apparent yet unseen spiritual tension between soul and flesh, an experiential journey through mystical eyes touching on the deepest depravity of humanity.

Between Earth and Sky wily suggests a hope for understanding in brokenness and a coming yet present redemption through the feral mystery of rock and roll. “We wanted to create something that was a part of each of us, something that genuinely described the tension between our relationships and the struggles of our lives,” says guitarist Davey Quon. “I think we achieved that.”

“We feed off of honest rock and roll, whether it be shamelessly pompous or brutally honest, it’s what eventually will be the only thing standing”
Luke MacMaster, guitar

** Note **

No release date is available but expect late this year.

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The Colour - Between Earth And Sky