Colourmusic / My ____ Is Pink

Memphis Industries

Welcome to the beautifully strange world of Colourmusic, where concept albums—an LP named My _____ Is Pink, in this case—have nothing to do with structured narratives or loosely-linked lyrics. It’s more like a musical wall that must be climbed, whether that means shunning acoustic guitars or modeling some songs’ rhythm section after metronomic sex acts. Which isn’t as titillating as it sounds. The way lead singer Ryan Hendrix sees it, “We wanted to focus on human sexuality and reproduction. Not in terms of turning people on; from a point of view of fear and anxiety, and how it’s the prominent decision-making force in many people’s lives.” That explains a couple things, starting with My _____ Os Pink’s actual sound. Rounded out by bassist Colin Fleishacker, drummer Nicholas Ley, and British guitarist Nick Turner, Oklahoma-based Colourmusic’s new material amounts to an ever-evolving mass of melancholic melodies, gauzy vocals, shifty beats and monophonic musical structures. Not to mention glimpses of agnostic gospel grooves (“You for Leaving Me”), hip-shaking R&B (“Feels Good to Wear”), acid-drenched pop (“Tog”) and Bladerunner-inspired psych (“Pororoca,” which means, quite tellingly, “great destructive noise” in many parts of South America). And then there’s “The Little Death,” a five-part foray into the outer realms of sandblasted rock, subterranean drone tones and the kind of headphone-ready hooks that spontaneously combust weak-willed speakers. Like a yellow brick road to the second circle of Hell (that’s for the sin of lust, if you haven’t visited Dante’s Inferno in a while), it’s a ten-minute guide to what makes Colourmusic tick. Well, sort of. Truth be told, the band isn’t spelling anything out. “If you write a song that’s too literal, it dates it,” explains Hendrix. “We’d rather make things a little more subconscious. It gives a song a longer life span because you never know what’s really going on. “The music tells us what the song is going to be about. Once we have a drum beat, it’s alive. And once we come back to it, it’s basically beckoning us to finish it.”  “... excellent genre busting from UK/US newcomers.... Four stars.” —Uncut  “... awesome Can-style prog, made extra heavy with two bassists.... Their album, My ____ Is Pink, is out next month on Memphis Industries and is very good.” —Brooklynvegan.com

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