Colours Of One continue their emergence with the release of their expansive and invigorating new single "Crater's Lip" part of their new April album release, Vessels.
The notion of expanding and taking alternative rock to new heights is not an alien one. That being said, it's not often that you come across something as concise, spirited, and nostalgic in quite so definitive a fashion as Colours of One, an alternative rock band from the UK who is currently taking the genre to new and impressive heights.
Etching their names into the industry with their new single "Crater's Lip" the alternative rock crew have taken notes from the darlings of the music genre and are creating quite the glowing sensation.
While "Crater's lip" has given us a taste of what Colours of One's soundscape can deliver for the future of the genre, there is a larger story at play here, one that represents a deep six-year struggle. A story of sacrifice, passion, and hard work, their latest album Vessels is their journey into what they love doing, and how they fought to keep themselves there.
“In terms of the wider story, I think there’s something about kicking off the album proper with this song and the meaning behind it. While it wasn’t written about the band, there were certainly points in the last six or so years, where I questioned whether we were going to pull through and get this album finished.
Maybe we could have called it a day, maybe we had run our course. But from there, the record delivers 12 other songs. We rode it out, supported each other through some of our most challenging times, never gave in, and now we have an album we’re incredibly proud of. We pulled back from the "Crater’s Lip.”
What started Colours of One? What made you guys want to pursue music?
Michael: Initially, for me, and this is the shameful truth, it was the 90s teen sitcom California Dreams. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, California Dreams was about a group of American high school friends that played in a band. I absolutely loved that show, and it was genuinely my inspiration for wanting to learn to play guitar. From there, it was the case of being inspired but more reputable bands. Also, we grew up in South Wales where there was a really strong music scene; so going to gigs was part of the culture and there were lots of bands in our town that went on to achieve amazing things, such as Bullet For My Valentine and Funeral For A Friend. We are a product of our town.
What are your musical influences? There are these really catchy rhythms that stick with you on top of these massive guitar moments sewn into the lyrical frame of this track. Just listening to this song, you get a callback to some memorable early 2000s alternative rock vibes.
Michael: Our foundations are built on 90s grunge-era acts, like Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Jane's Addiction, or even Foo Fighters, filtered through noughties guitar bands like Jimmy Eat World, Coheed and Cambria, and Biffy Clyro, dusted off with present-day contenders like Lonely The Brave and Nothing But Thieves.
How was this creative process different from your previous releases? You guys have a few releases under your belt with your 2009 album Bad News Makes Big Noise and 2021 release Apparitions.
Michael: Very. The songs on Bad News Makes Big Noise and Apparitions tended to be written with us all in a room together, jamming out parts and working out the melodies. I remember, we used to hire out the function hall of one of the local social clubs to rehearse. The rest of the guys would jam out a song part, and I would go and stand in the toilet listening to them play the part over while working out what I would sing. I pretty much wrote all of the vocals to Bad News Makes Big Noise in Aberkenfig Con Club’s toilet.
With Vessels, the collaboration between us was more remote. We’d demo ideas at home and email them around for each other to work on, flesh out parts, collaborate on arrangements, etc. A lot more time and thought were given to the overall production of the tracks also, with Lewis (bass) taking the reigns as the producer of the record, bringing in extra instrumentation where it served the song, for example, the trumpets in ‘Things That Have Learned To Walk’.
Lyrically, "Crater's Lip" is part of a much bigger story. Can we talk about that? Where does this fall into that?
Michael: Lyrically, ‘Crater’s Lip’ is about feeling like you’re on the precipice of giving up; you feel like you’ve held out as long as you could have and now it’s possibly time to call it a day. I’m pretty sure I borrowed the metaphor of standing at the crater’s lip from something I heard on TalkSport Radio of all places.
In terms of the wider story, I think there’s something about kicking off the album proper with this song and the meaning behind it. While it wasn’t written about the band, there were certainly points in the last six or so years, where I questioned whether we were going to pull through and get this album finished.
Maybe we could have called it a day, maybe we had run our course. But from there, the record delivers 12 other songs. We rode it out, supported each other through some of our most challenging times, never gave in, and now we have an album we’re incredibly proud of. We pulled back from the "Crater’s Lip."
Your new album represents a deep six-year struggle you guys faced as a band from the departure of two band members, living in different countries, studio break-ins, and numerous other setbacks. That's a lot to take in. How has this helped you cope with that while growing as a band?
Michael: For us, music and songwriting are the creative releases to navigate through everything life throws. Having a goal, and an album to work towards was very useful to keep focus.
The whole process and all the setbacks helped us grow as a band and as friends. We are a tight team. The period that we put together the album was very tough at times.
There were collective setbacks, but also at different points over that period each of us had things going on in our personal lives that were very very challenging.
But we were there for each other, gave each other space and support we needed to get through. That meant things took a little longer, but above all, we wanted to get to the other side together. All four of us. No one was left behind. I’m really grateful for that.
What is next for you guys this year?
Michael: The priority is to get in a room and play together again, and book some shows. It’s been a long time since we’ve played live and we intend to put that right. We have one eye on future releases too, making sure that it will not be as long a wait for the follow-up to Vessels.