Demos

Colours Run - On My Side

Tim Miller 01/08/2006

Rating: 3/5

I've listened to this demo a lot before getting round to writing about, because it's a grower. A real grower. Hailing mostly from a real hotbed for new music, Manchester, this lo-fi four piece make shimmering guitar driven pop music with catchy melodies.

'On My Side' hops along, relaxed but jaunty, with layers of acoustic strumming and a tranquil guitar riff merging in with the breezy vocals. The outstanding track here, though, is undoubtedly 'Beautiful Waste of Time', punchier in its upbeat style. A song riddled with vocal hooks, summery harmonies and unusual chord changes, this would go down tastily at an open air gig in the cool evening sunshine.

Third song 'Before The War', almost ballad-like at snail's pace with soft acoustic guitars, slowly builds from a Radiohead-style opening into an emotionally charged waltz through tender chords and telling vocals, lamenting, "I don't remember what I did before the war".

Somehow akin to Blur, with their gentle catchy approach to music, Colours Run are a typical representation of all that's good about new music. Genuinely ploughing your own style, writing decent songs, the only battle is getting people to realise that you deserve to be heard. But Colours Run certainly do, and this 3-track EP should go some way to getting these boys on your side.

Colours Run Online