COLOURBOX : COLOURBOX [4AD - ESP 1985] LP

Colourbox "Colourbox" LP

(4AD) 1985 made in Spain

cat. num. T-207.324

#synth pop

Sleepwalker2:15Just Give 'Em Whiskey4:19Say You3:58The Moon Is Blue4:37Inside Informer4:24Punch5:01Suspicion4:27Manic2:26You Keep Me Hanging On5:38Arena4:23

The band's sole full length album was, and is, a lost treasure -- though much about its production and general sound firmly places it as a product of the mid-'80s, it was still a stunning debut which covers any number of sounds and styles with aplomb. The result is a unique fusion, where you can't quite guess what will happen from one track to the next, but the sound still resembles the product of one particular vision. The opening songs set the range and ambition of the group straightaway -- from the instrumental "Sleepwalker," a truly beautiful piano piece with some extra production touches, the band slams into the sampling/guitar/rock/dance masterpiece "Just Give 'Em Whiskey." Crammed with samples from the likes of Westworld and The Prisoner, it's a total winner of beat, sound, and arrangement. Lorita Grahame makes her first appearance on the next number, the previously released cover of U-Roy's dancehall classic "Say You" -- her lovely singing provides the anchor for the album as a whole, matching the multiplicity of Colourbox's approaches with skill. The other cover on the record is often cited as its highlight -- a revamping of the Supremes' tremendous "You Keep Me Hanging On," which makes the near contemporaneous take by Kim Wilde seem like the weedy thing it is. There are plenty of other examples of Colourbox reaching for the skies, though: from the mid-century tearjerker gone modern "The Moon is Blue", the gorgeous "Suspicion" and the album-closing gentle drama of "Arena" to the aggressive "Manic," which features a snarling guitar solo from William Orbit. There's a slightly curious discrepancy in the album's varying editions -- the vinyl version featured an extra record with other tracks and some alternate versions.