[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/253725916″ params=”color=000000&inverse=false&auto_play=false&show_user=true” width=”100%” height=”20″ iframe=”true” /]
With the prominent new wave of synth driven contemplation music, or shoegaze or electronica or dream pop or whatever you want to call it, Colourwaves is an artist who really plays up on the mind. Hailing from humble musical experimentation in his Melbourne bedroom, Ryan Dodson’s first solo project has developed into a rich wall of melancholic sound that is nearly as much a visual or therapeutic experience as one that involves the listening of the ears. And new single Achrons follows right on suit.
Colourwaves does music’s amalgamation with art very, very well. There is nothing explicit about what you hear or see from this music, it’s a personal journey that we are ushered along, differing from ear to ear, mind to mind. It’s damn fitting that his project be named Colourwaves his music gets transcending ears and enters a world of sound infused visual landscapes and moments in time, of past, present or future experience.
Colourwaves delivers some fresh new stimulus in new single Achrons bringing a rich wall of melancholic sound for us to hear, feel and see.
Of his Distractions EP, Dodson mused, “This EP is a collection of thoughts that came to me when I lost my mind one time. It’s a reflection on myself and humanity. We’ve come so far that we don’t know what to do with ourselves. We now engage in distractions. I made it in my room and it should be listened to loud.”
‘Struth. That’s what his music is. Personal, ethereal, existential and above all contemplative in a way that is universal and not just restricted to the artist from whence it came. The synth driven walls of sound infused with, at times, indecipherable lyrical mixing and both subtle and dominant injections of melody turn Colourwaves in to an odyssey of time, space, visualisation and thought. Dodson’s mission in the creative process is to explore the aesthetic of musical melancholia. As is true to the melancholic state of mind, the variation in musical organisation in his tracks reflect this state and the moments of chaos and calm, captured in rising crescendos, sometimes metronomic melody and the often endlessness of the final sound.
His latest track is again dabbling in new sounds and layers, reminiscent of the work of Kavinsky. This is also felt in Achrons, accompanied by a fantastically fresh video clip featuring the artist himself drifting through a world of incomprehensible pace and direction. Not only does the video clip highlight the strength of his artistic idea, direction and themes, it highlights the whimsical lyrics that are the unsung heroes, and at times, perhaps the missing links in understanding Colourwaves’ work.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/253725916″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Colourwaves brings the visceral package in sound and word. Reading his lyrics is a journey unto itself. When asked of his influences and he mentions the Smiths, the legends that be. As stand alone poetry his writing would receive resounding snaps.
Across his catalogue there is a clear development in the Colourwaves landscape, particularly in the 2014 release World Warp where an intermixed conventional and unconventional sound partnership, including drum beats, guitar melody and artificial sounds add another layers to a synth driven sound that is being constantly being refined. Influenced by artists such as HTRK and Slowdive the progression of sound across Colourwaves’ work will not only retain early listeners but open the ears of the new, with a distinct change in pace on tracks such as his 2015 single Spike and Chrysanthemum from World Warp.
Colourwaves is a man of the feels, experience and solid, solid lyrics. Across his work you often find yourself feeling more than listening. He’s an artist that the world needs, not only because he’s damn talented as a writer, musician and artist but because through his work he affords us the time to reconnect with our own humanity. It’s deep and it’s real.
