The Sydney quartet turns personal desperation into a powerful, redemptive art-rock masterpiece.
There is a rare and profound power in music born of genuine desperation. For Eora quartet July Morning, that power is the lifeblood of their stunning new single, ‘The Colours of Darkness.’
The track, which serves as the title piece for their forthcoming debut album (out April 17), is a visceral, unflinching document of survival.
July Morning has always carved out a unique space for themselves in the local scene, straddling the intricate worlds of prog/art-rock, the intimacy of folk, and the raw energy of indie.
Described by Broken 8 Music as creating work “intellectually stimulating as it is soul-rattling,” the band has consistently delivered music with purpose.
But with ‘The Colours of Darkness,’ they transcend their eclectic influences, those echoes of Floydian space and Genesis-level complexity, to achieve something starkly personal and universally resonant.
The track is a direct confrontation with major depressive disorder. As lead vocalist Jesse reveals, it was written at his lowest point, and that unfiltered anguish is palpable.
The song’s opening is a delicate, haunting soundscape, Jesse’s vocals are a fragile thread in the void.
But as the narrative of fighting intrusive thoughts intensifies, so does the music. It builds with a controlled, art-rock tension before erupting into a cathartic, post-punk-tinged release that rattles the spirit exactly as their press quotes suggest.
Engineered and mixed by Phan Sjarif (Middle Kids, Birds of Tokyo), the production is pristine, allowing every raw edge and dynamic shift to land with gut-wrenching clarity.
What elevates ‘The Colours of Darkness’ from a harrowing listen to an essential one is its underlying current of hope. The song’s very existence is a testament to its message.
Jesse notes that the drive to finish this track, to bring it to the band and the world, became a crucial reason to keep fighting.
In this way, the song is not an ending, but a key. A key that unlocked an album and, more importantly, a path through the abyss.
It is a remarkable, brave, and beautiful piece of work that cements July Morning as one of the most compelling acts in Australian rock today.
