Album Review :
Colours - Skin and Bones E.P.

Artist: Colours

Album: Skin and Bones E.P.

Record Label: Independent

Release Date: 7/23/13

1. The Illusionist
2. The Machine
3. The Passenger
4. The Runaway

Three years ago, I remember being on MySpace and reading Burden of a Day’s last post, stating the band was breaking up.  They were ending on a high note with their last album, which came out in the spring of 2009, “Oneonethousand”. A great album that featured their newly acquired vocalist, Kyle Tamosaitis.  In their “break-up” blog they stated, (I am paraphrasing) that something new would come out of this band with a different name and most likely different style.  After two years and still no band name, “The Illusionist” is presented by three members of Burden of a Day in December of 2012. A song that demonstrates the different style and look that they promised in the bands last blog.  Colours was born and on July 23rd of 2013 “Skin and Bones” was presented to the world. Under the radar of most, this short album displays an overwhelming array of beautiful melody and a sound that echoes off the walls.

There is a simple beauty in the ambiance created within the tight musical writings between the members of Colours. You can hear the influence of such bands as Thrice and Circa Survive, as well as post rock bands, Explosions in The Sky and This Will Destroy Us.  The musicianship is superb through out this EP.  Starting with “The Illusionist”, a soft, simple, open sound that builds a wall full of  reverb and delays, all the while Kyle Tamosaitis’ sweet, delicate, high pitched melodies sneak through that wall.  The drums on songs like “The Machine” and “The Passenger”, lay the backbone all the while the bass takes a ride covering the undertones giving the guitar and synth/piano room to work as what I believe to be the fundamental sound of this band.  The heart is in the harmonic displays between major and minor chords and lead lines that are put on display while the vocals tell the story behind the music.  To a musicians ear, this EP is a simple display of fundamental art.

The way the progressions play through these batch of songs are simple enough, however the hidden gems musically are what are tucked away in the sound. Little vocal runs and stints of synth sneak their way through the instrumental sections on these songs making the ambiance that much greater.  Soothing and relaxing tones that seem to secretly ooze out of the speakers and into the listeners ears.

Musically this is one of the best albums I have heard in a long time. Listening to the album from a vocal perspective I will say it is a breath of fresh air to hear a voice with such range and is not pushed into a raspy state or where the use of falsetto is needed.  Every note is hit as it can by Kyle as he projects through his silky, smooth melodies. The surprise is not that he can sing this well,  he proved he can with Burden of a Day.  The surprise is the versatility that he portrays through these four songs.  There is a section on “The Machine” on the last singing section where he arpeggiates down the scale flawlessly.

As much as I am here to describe the beauty of this EP I must, as well, describe what maybe a flaw to some and most likely insignificant to others.  The production of this album is great.  On the bottom three songs, the drums punch and the bass is there.  However, the production on “The Illusionist” isn’t as up to par as the other three songs.  The tones on each instrument as well the vocals are fantastic.  The part that lacks is when the chorus hits there is no real bottom end going.  You can hear the bass and the kick drum, but you cannot feel them pumping through the sound.  What I am assuming is that they recorded “The Illusionist” back in 2012, and the rest of the songs were recorded later on, after the fact to provide the four songs on this EP.

Overall: The “Skin and Bones” EP by Colours will most likely go down as one of the better EP’s this year.  Listeners of post rock sounding bands will most likely dig this relaxing, ambient, florescent group of songs that make up this record. One thing to keep in mind, as stated in their most recent youtube video describing the EP, is that this is a prelude to a full length that they want to record and release soon.  Word of advice, buy this cd.  Download it off iTunes and help out this wonderful band from Florida.

RIYL: Thrice, Circa Survive, This Will Destroy You, Explosions in The Sky