By Del Chaney

Scotland has a serious love affair with the atmospheric post-rock genre of music. Maybe it’s down to location? Or maybe it’s down to the expansive visual beauty of the Scottish landscape? Recently, I’ve been coming across some amazing post-rock outfits coming out of said country, via numerous outlets, and almost every band that I’ve heard of has released absolutely stunning musical soundscapes of immense proportions.

Motherwell four-piece A Sudden Burst of Colour (Callum Brand, Luke Duncan, Liam Shaw, and Calum Farquharson) are recent arrivals to Glasgow’s premier noise-focused independent record label Good Grief Records, but they fit into the label’s continuing ethos of finding and releasing independent, experimental, and progressive music to the best of their ability.

A Sudden Burst of Colour create a beautiful maelstrom of instrumental rock music with ambient and atmospheric influences. Their latest release, the four track EP Waves Will Rise On Silent Water, released this past February, is only their first with Good Grief, but it will no doubt cement their place among the greats within Scotland’s atmospheric post-rock annals. This is an amazing collection of tracks.

A Sudden Burst of Colour

The EP opens up with the stunning “Riptide,” an emotive reverb-drenched powerhouse of a track, full of atmospheric explosions and creeping guitar lines that lead the charge from the off. Trust me when I say that its immense ending will grab you by the hair and throw you around your room! Yes, it’s infectious, but that forces you to keep your concentration fixed on the intricate instrumental work going on throughout the track.

Next up on Waves Will Rise On Silent Water is “Yume,” a more laid-back track but beautifully ambient in its approach. The guitar lines on this track are masterful and are equally as addictive as they are on the opening track, aside from their leaning more toward’s the atmospheric tendencies of this band. Track three gets the blood pumping with its driving intro. In my opinion, “Life Spent Drifting” was written for daydreaming. It’s probably my favourite track on this release — it shows just exactly how good A Sudden Burst of Colour really are. It has everything going on! Peaks and troughs carry you on a five minute twelve second journey through blissfully atmospheric guitars and pulsating drums. Again, in my opinion, this track is the corner stone of the entire EP and I really have to congratulate the band for bringing into the world such a beautiful track.

The album’s closing track, “Ocean Floor” does exactly what I want this genre of music to do: take me on a journey and evoke snapshots of memories long hidden in the past. The attention to detail and the musicianship are absolutely breathtaking, making listening to this track on headphones a must. “Ocean Floor is a more than fitting close to a brilliantly emotive EP.

You can check out A Sudden Burst of Colour via Bandcamp or Facebook!

– Editor.

DEL CHANEY is a self-confessed music freak and is never far away from a turntable. He divides his time between fronting popular electronic band Analogue Wave and uncovering and actively promoting artists from all over the globe in the shoegaze, dream pop, noise-rock, & post-rock genres with The Primal Music Blog and The Primal Radio Show. Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, Del is a keen vinyl collector, tattoo fan, & all round good guy.