How Pink Floyd, family, and frenetic post-punk shaped July Morning’s stunning debut.
Sydney art-rock quartet July Morning doesn’t just make music; they build visceral, genre-defying worlds.
Drawing from the rich tapestry of British dad-rock (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin) and pushing into prog, folk, and post-punk, the band has finally unveiled their long-awaited debut album, The Colours of Darkness.
Described by frontman Jesse Delauney as a journey “right to the edge of despair,” the record is a loose concept album navigating mental health, isolation, and finding inner strength, without surrendering to hopelessness.
To celebrate the release, guitarist Owain Roberts sat down with us to discuss the album’s dark hues, the thrill of a perfect solo, and why losing at Uno makes him happy.
As the band prepares for a massive launch show at Low 302 on May 15, Roberts reveals the Pink Floyd spectre that haunts the record, the track that was a nightmare to finish, and why he hopes you’ll hit repeat the moment the final notes fade out.
HAPPY: What’d you get up to today?
OWAIN: Final day of school holidays for my daughter so we got ice cream, hot chocolate, and lunch together. Played Uno (I lost… Repeatedly).
Watched anime and listened to her favourite band. Then I taught a few people guitar in the afternoon. Quite a nice Tuesday actually.
HAPPY: Tell us a little about where you’re from, and what you love about it!
OWAIN: I grew up in Toongabbie, which is in Western Sydney. I didn’t love anything in particular about it, it was just a really great place to grow up.
HAPPY: You’ve cited British dad-rock giants like Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, and Genesis. Which one of those would you say haunts your new album the most?
OWAIN: It would have to be Pink Floyd.
HAPPY: What does ‘July Morning’ represent to you as a creative philosophy?
OWAIN: It’s a safe space to put forward ideas we’ve been working on and that all of those ideas are worth the time and effort.
Once we’re working on those ideas it helps that it’s always a lot of fun too.
HAPPY: The title The Colours of Darkness is striking. Does darkness have colours for you, and if so, what ones do we hear on this record?
OWAIN: Definitely. I think the album artwork captures things perfectly. Dark blue, red, and purple. Even with that darkness though there has to be light too.
You can see bits of lighter colours coming through like light blue and yellow.
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HAPPY: You said the album takes listeners “right to the edge of despair” but doesn’t advocate for hopelessness. How do you musically pull someone back from that edge?
OWAIN: Creating the right tension and release in our chord and melodic choices. The right choices there can make the listener feel almost anything, and if we do it right, then hopefully it resonates with them.
Or, sometimes a great solo or riff will do the trick too.
HAPPY: Which track on the album was the hardest to finish, and why?
OWAIN: For me it would have to be ‘Scorched Earth’ or ‘The Colours of Darkness’. If I have to choose one though, I’ll go with ‘The Colours of Darkness’.
Jesse was hearing some very particular things in the back half of the song that took us quite a few passes to get from what I was coming up with arrangement wise for guitar and keys/synth, and make our way to what he was hearing in his mind.
HAPPY: You’re officially launching the album on May 15th with a massive gig at Low302, what’s the one track off the album that you’re most excited to see a crowd rock out to?
OWAIN: ‘The Colours of Darkness’. It’s been amazing at our gigs so far. The back half of that song is so much fun to play and it’s really been making an impact with the audiences we’ve played it to so far.
HAPPY: With the album officially released, what’s the one thing you hope a listener feels by the time “Page After Page (Slight Return)” fades out?
OWAIN: Like all of my favourite albums I hope the listener wants to just go back to the start and listen again. For me, a great album has so many layers to explore.
Like discovering the lyrics in full, noticing cool chord changes, being hit emotionally by something in the song, hearing for the first time little things in any of the instrumental parts that you hadn’t noticed before, or even just cool rhythmic changes.
This sense of constant discovery is one of the best things about not just albums, but music in general. I also hope that something in there resonates with them and helps them in whatever way they need.
HAPPY: Lastly, what makes you happy? :-)
OWAIN: Family, friends, guitar, music, good food, and losing repeatedly at Uno.
