EP REVIEW: Colourburn - Compromise in Colour

Released 24 November 2023
Independent

Colourburn is:

Jordyn Briggs – vocals
Jack Gray – bass
Josh McIntosh – guitars

Hailing from the streets of Melbourne, alternative/rock trio Colourburn are the fresh act you need to dive into. Crashing on the scene with their debut five-track EP, Compromise in Colour, vocalist Jordyn Briggs is Australia’s latest rock voice on the rise.

Opening track ‘Feel Me’ kind of feels like a slow burn, luring us in with a ripple of grunge-sounding, edgy riffs. Jordyn’s voice is haunting here and pulls you in for even more. It’s a very promising intro for the emo/rock trio. Honestly for me though, things heated up in my ears with the rightly titled ‘Blue Flame‘. The band’s influences are heavily driven by gritty guitars and pop sensibility from the late 90s/2000s. The vocal tones here are reminiscent of Michelle Branch, Alanis Morisette and a young Bonnie Fraser.

With that notion, are we hearing the future voice of Australian emo/pop punk? Look, it’s a big call this early on, but Colourburn are so far reaching new heights and this is only their debut. The distorted grunge elements on ‘Folded Letter‘ add a heavy touch to those catchy melodies before we’re hit with an empowering, climactic bridge.

If it wasn’t evident by now that these kids heavily look up to Stand Atlantic, it is well and truly exposed on ‘Sinkhole‘. Jordyn’s vocal persona is almost on-par with Bonnie’s and to be honest, this song sounds like it’s going to be electric to hear live. This is beautiful. Rounding off this EP is the band’s leading single, ‘Star‘, which initially gave us melodic emo-pop sensibility, but sits so nicely straight after the banger that is ‘Sinkhole‘.

They may be the new kids on the block, but Colourburn are shining bright and it’s like they’ve been here before. Compromise in Colour shows plenty of promise for this trio to conquer the local pop punk scene in the future. I’m excited to see what else they can conceive in 2024.

Rating: 7.5/10

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Review by Tamara May @citylightstam

EP & Singles Artwork