Art-rock outfit July Morning invite listeners on an eclectic genre-blending journey on debut album The Colours of Darkness
Eora/Sydney quartet July Morning today reveal their debut album The Colours of Darkness – a loose concept album informed by the band members’ personal experiences navigating mental health in our shared modern world. Stream HERE. Tomorrow night, the band will celebrate the record with a free entry listening party at Sneaky Possum featuring a Q&A with the band, DJ sets, and a silent auction of the original painting used in the album artwork – more details HERE. On May 15, July Morning will play an intimate album launch show at Low 302. Tickets and information are available HERE.
The Colours of Darkness treats listeners to a rich tapestry of genre-melding art-rock, inspired by elements of progressive rock, folk-rock, blues, jazz, psychedelia, and post-punk, which call back to the band’s individual influences and love of collaboration and improvisation. With members Jesse Delauney (lead vocals, guitar), Owain Roberts (lead guitar, vocals), Gideon Traurig (bass, vocals), Cy Donkin (album drums), and Dom Lynn (live drums) each coming from strong artistic backgrounds, The Colours of Darkness is an album of musical density. Largely guitar-driven, it features flourishes of piano, synthesisers, saxophones, strings, and mandolin throughout longform tracks which bring listeners on an eclectic and visceral journey through themes of despair, isolation, family, relationships, and finding inner strength.
Talking about the record, frontman Jesse Delauney says “We put together a suite of songs that individually address human connection and isolation; family, friends and romantic relationships; and self-identity, including perception, inner conflict, and positive realisations that lead to empowerment. The album is, aptly, very dark and both lyrically and musically it is a delivery right to the edge of despair, which it does not to advocate for the hopelessness in ‘being here’ but to recognise and validate everyone who’s ever found themselves beset by excruciating bouts of melancholy.”
Delauney adds “It was important to us that we balanced this darkness with light, because in reality they often co-exist, and we found ourselves drawn to including songs that are cathartic and about resolution.”
Simultaneously intimate and universal, harrowing and warm, the album was engineered and mixed by Phan Sjarif (Middle Kids / Birds of Tokyo) and ARIA Award-winning producer Adrian Breakspear (Gang of Youths, Boy & Bear).
The Colours of Darkness is available for pre-order on 12″ vinyl HERE and now via digital download through July Morning’s Bandcamp page HERE.
The Colours of Darkness Album Listening Party
Saturday 18th April – Sneaky Possum – Sydney, NSW
Tickets | Event
The Colours of Darkness Album Launch
Friday 15th May – Low 302 – Sydney, NSW
Tickets | Event
The Colours of Darkness out now
Tracklist:
Page After Page
The Canary Song
Upper Hand
Scorched Earth
Force of Nature
Beacon
The Colours of Darkness
Ex Nihilo
Fruitless Pursuit
Page After Page (Slight Return)
About July Morning
Eora/Sydney rock band July Morning straddles the spaces between prog/art-rock, indie and folk. The band combines its eclectic influences and artistic ambitions to create visceral and exploratory music that incites the mind as much as it rattles the spirit.
July Morning’s members grew up on a rich diet of heralded dad-rock, especially of the British variety – think The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Genesis. But they expanded their tastes when picking up their instruments to articulate the outrageous sounds in their heads. Consequently, the band is equally drawn to writing complex epic-length pieces, heart-wrenching ballads, social and political dirges, and frenetic post-punk freak-out jams.
But the band is most interested in synthesising the sum of these parts into a meaningful whole. July Morning exists to bring listeners an introspective and original blend of music to make you both feel and think.
Connect with July Morning
Instagram | Facebook | Website | Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube | Bandcamp
