COLOURSØUND colour portrait (L-R) Mike Peters, Billy Duffy © Jules Jones Peters 2021
ALBUM REVIEW : COLOURSØUND – COLOURSØUND II
COLOURSØUND II is the second album from Billy Duffy (The Cult) and Mike Peters (The Alarm) project that is COLOURSØUND. The new album recorded 23 years apart is as powerful, if not more than the debut album from the band. The passion and energy created between Billy and Mike soars from the music in a powerful way from the album.
The opening track Paradise (Free People), takes you back to the beginning, teasing you with big guitar riffs and powerful drums before the opening lyric “Let this be the start of something beautiful”, the song has everything from the big chorus that will embed its self in your head, to the explosive guitar that leaves the hair standing on your neck. Next up “Lightning Strikes”, opening with a groove rock guitar riff that captures you before taking you on a journey, big power riffs creating an epic rock classic, American rock n Roll played from the heart.
One of the stand out tracks from the album, ‘Revelation’, captures you with the powerful guitar before Mike Peters vocals takes you on a journey through the world of Coloursound. The powerful lyrics of “A Dog howls at the moon and the penetration”, the song just grows before breaking down with a nice acoustic and then amplifies to an intense tempo that will have you nodding along. ‘Addiction‘ is a softer song in comparison to the opening tracks on the album, is a pleasing break, with the sing a long chorus, really shows the musical talents and various music styles of the two musicians.
‘Why‘continues the softer rock approach, with a blues theme, placing you in the open country, questioning yourself as to why, tugging on the heart strings the song is about break up in a relationship. The track builds with strong beautiful harmonies before howling guitars. ‘Actions‘ a powerful song with a strong lead and drum groove that drives the rolling lyrics. ‘The Other Side‘ is a delightful surprise that brings back the power of Coloursound with epic guitars and explosive vocals. When the band tour this will be a massive song live, it has so much power you can feel it soaring throughout the track. Next is the powerful ‘Start a Fire‘, a slow groove climaxing into a rocking chorus with “I’m going to start a Fire”, its deep with a lot of emotions running in the back ground, capturing the soft rock groove with a great guitar solo from Billy Duffy bringing the song to a close.
The penultimate song ‘Eye for an Eye‘ has a strong Motorhead feel with the powerful rolling guitars and drums before a big 80’s rock chorus, with a Gun’s n Roses edge, the track grows with layers of guitars before a stunning guitar solo from Billy Duffy. The last track ‘Mourning Call‘ has a very psychedelic feel, opening with a constant drum beat before distorted guitars, powerful vocals from Mike Peters towering above the music like the light on top of a lighthouse shining out to sea, it has a more dance feel than a rock song but its strong rock edges creates a 5.23 masterpiece to bring an end to what will be a classic album from Coloursound.
Billy and Mike have continued where they left off 23 years ago, delivering a powerful album filled with emotion, passion and pure rock n’ roll. This will not disappoint any rock music lover and its not just fans of The Cult or The Alarm, this is a pleasure to listen to bringing two forces of the 80’s & 90’s together creating the music of Coloursound.
Album Review by James Edmond
