“Reflections Of Wistfulness In Colour” – “Into The Mirror” CD Review By Chrissi Sepe
(Author of Bliss, Bliss, Bliss and the novel "Iggy Gorgess" released as an E-Book in early 2014)
 
Every so often, a band’s CD has lyrics that speak to me.  The songwriter knows exactly how I’ve been feeling, as if he’s been peeking inside my mind.  The latest release from The Blurry World Record Company’s band, Colour, is an album that tells me my thoughts.  When I first read the title, “Into The Mirror,” I immediately thought of “Alice Through The Looking Glass,” when Alice steps into another world through her mirror.  Colour’s previous releases do evoke this feeling of otherworldliness, of dreaming and melting away into another reality.  Yet once I listened to the CD, the lyrics immediately plunged me into reality.  They don’t take you away from yourself, but rather more closely into the person you’ve become after years of living and reflecting.

Colour consists of band members, Dave Echo (guitars, voice and samples), Damian Scro (drums and percussion) Jaime Piacente (bells and tambourine) and new member John Spo (Bass).  They are known for their shoegazer, late 1980’s British style. 
As a whole, “Into The Mirror” reminds me most of “The Stone Roses” 1989 self-titled album which has music that sounds like summer.

As always, many of the CD’s tracks contain Colour’s trademark feedback guitars and distortion.  But there are also beautiful melodic changes, particularly on Track 2, “Please Stop Dark Whispers.”  This song has some Beatlesque changes, and the track concludes with a nice bass solo.  The lyrics suggest a person going through a crisis, yet trying to find his way out.  “I am climbing my way through/Over and over the storm goes on/Lost sounds from far away start to appear/Please stop dark whispers.”

But despite the beautiful melodies, dreamy vocals, and tinkling guitar sounds, the lyrics throughout the album are dark:  “I am a failure/I am the American Dream/That no one will ever see.”  These lyrics open up “Into The Mirror” in the first track “Turn It Off.”  This is the theme throughout.  We are on a journey of self-exploration and of being older but wiser.

One of my favorite songs on the album is their cover or The Velvet Underground's classic “Sunday Morning,” and it illustrates this theme the most clearly.  The music has a happy, pop feel to it which is very pleasant and upbeat.  But this completely contrasts with the brilliant, yet sad lyrics:  “It’s just a restless feeling…It’s just the wasted years so close behind/Watch out! The world’s behind you/There’s always someone around you who will fall/Nothing at all.”  We all feel like we’ve wasted our time.  The song seems to contain a warning message to those younger than us who are just starting out.  Soon they’ll be watching out with the world behind them, and we’ll be watching them fall too.  I’ve also always found Sunday mornings depressing.  They just seem like the most dire day of the week:  “Sunday morning/Earth falling/I’ve got this feeling I don’t want to know/Early dawning/On Sunday morning/It’s all the streets you crossed not so long ago.”  The song ends with a sample that lightens things up:  “Fantastic, simply great, simply great, a terrific impression,” as if this sample is complimenting the song it just heard.  It’s a nice, upbeat, humorous way to end such a bittersweet song.

“Do It Tomorrow” is a song close to my heart.  It’s about something I can unfortunately relate to which the title clearly reveals:  procrastination.  Again, it is a poppy, upbeat song with lots of drums:  “I can’t take tomorrow/I can’t take tomorrow/With all the raging fear/I’ll do it tomorrow/Do it tomorrow/When I’m not here.”  “Now is the time to fall away/Save it for a sunny day.”  Fear is what causes us to procrastinate.  Pushing off what could be done today into tomorrow is what causes all those wasted years. 

After all this procrastination and all these wasted years, there’s only one thing left to do:  drift. The title of this second to last song is “I Just Want To Drift.” It begins with a great sample:  “Where you headed for?”  “Nowhere.”  The song’s lyrics continue this theme:  “I don’t want to care/I don’t want to try/I don’t want to know/I don’t want to grow/I don’t want to see/I just want to sleep/But more than this/I just want to drift.”  What a brilliant chorus, and it ends with the equally brilliant sample that claims:  “It’s marketable!”

Finally, my favorite song is Track 3, “Something Pure.”  It starts out with pure feedback, then into the song with a nice feel.  I love the dissonant changes, and there is a nice break where I can picture everything floating up into the sky:  “All the times I’m searching for/I’m not sure/I’m not sure/Crystal skies are stretching wide.”  It breaks out into a funky beat and guitar feedback and solo, finally breaking down with dreamy lyrics singing “oh-oh-oh” which are nice and high, then into deep, low “dreams” which fade to end.
 
Overall, “Into The Mirror” is an amazing album.  Colour again delivers the fuzzy and melodic music we love them for, but lyrically, “Into The Mirror” surpasses all their previous releases.  Its dismal words have touched my heart and have echoed the messages longing to escape my soul.