Today our music explorations take us to Berlin, where we explore the latest offering from indie rock chameleons The History Of Colour TV. Following their second widely acclaimed album Shapes Of Spilt Blood Spelt Love, released on Saint Marie Records, they come back with an even more attractive track “Wreck”. This is the trio’s first single from their forthcoming album Something Like Eternity, slated for release in February via French label Cranes Records.

If that doesn’t all sound impressive enough, consider this – in the spring of 2016, the band recorded this album in France – not just anywhere and with anyone. They made this road trip of sorts to commit themselves to tape, so to speak, with the legendary Black Box Recording Studio, and with the exceptionally established Peter Deimel (The Wedding Present, Shellac, The Ex).

The resultant album, as represented by this first single “Wreck”, is a notable departure from their hallmark sound where the band members bring a raw, minimalist aesthetic to the new release. Today we have the pleasure of presenting the premiere for the new video for “Wreck”, which at first seems abstract, with imagery of the roof, door, carpet of a vehicle, but by the end of the video it becomes clear that this is the site of a disastrous car crash.

The video, like the lyrics, for “Wreck” tells a tragic story, focused on a group of friends whose relationships have become discolored by estrangement and indifference. The narrator, who is part of group, describes feelings of helplessness by their situation that seems hopeless – nothing will change among them. They eventually end up in a serious car crash. Although their fate remains unclear, the narrator contemplates the repercussions of an event that fatefully seals off any ability to rectify differences between the disillusioned friends.

Stylistically, the track itself a dynamic and open live recording with minimal overdubs. Much like in the style of early Radiohead (Think “My Iron Lung”-era), the sequences intensify and a wall of sound virtually crescendos with a plethora of guitar textures. The vocals are uncannily similar to Thom Yorke’s style and timbre.

In terms of the forthcoming album Something Like Eternity, this is an album of sparse, immediate performances captured live in studio. The room seemingly reverberates to a wide dynamic range of sonic tapestries ranging from fleeting moments of near-silence to elongated passages of guitar meltdowns, loaded with emotion.

In 2010, British artist Jaike Stambach established The History Of Colour TV in Berlin, initially conceived as a solo multimedia project involving noisy, hypnotic output through audio, video, and soundtracks. The current line-up also includes Markus Mocydlarz and Janek Sprachta.

Over the course of two albums and multiple EPs, released through Bruit Blanc and Saint Marie Records, the band has explored harsh noise, sound collages, and reverb-saturated dreampop, and now delves into more stripped down rock creations.

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