THREE COLOURS DARK
HISTORY - ANCIENT
Rachel & Jonathan first began making music together in the late 80s with Angel Heart, a trio that was formed with Ian Jones. The band was named after the Alan Parker movie and had a very individual vibe with just bass, keyboards, vocals and a Roland RX21 drum machine to provide the rhythm. The Dream Circle followed soon afterwards in which the trio were joined by a guitarist and drummer... and then there were five. In the early 1990s Rachel, Jon & Ian created a new band: The Big Pink - which also featured ex-Hepburns guitarist, Nigel Boulton. Notable live appearance included a slot on the 1992 Heineken Festival held in Swansea's Singleton Park, whose bill included The Manic Street Preachers. After a few year's break Rachel, Jon & Ian were reunited as a song-writing team. Following the recruitment of guitarist Paul Davies and drummer, Gavin Griffiths, Karnataka was born, with Anne-Marie Helder later welcomed to the line-up as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. The band's original line-up delivered three studio albums, 'Karnataka', 'The Storm' and 'Delicate Flame Of Desire' and a live album 'Strange Behaviour' as well as two live in concert DVDs which were recorded in London and the USA respectively. Following the disintegration of Karnataka in 2004, Rachel went on to join The Reasoning while Jon founded Panic Room with Anne-Marie, Gavin & Paul, also later creating the acoustic project, Luna Rossa , with Anne-Marie. |
HISTORY - MODERN
The Reasoning disbanded in 2014, after which Rachel took an extended break from music to focus on her post-doctoral career as an academic researcher. A casual meeting between Jon & Rachel at the end of 2018 led to much musical reminiscing and a shared desire to rekindle their songwriting partnership... and so here
THE PRESENT TENSE
With the kind of creative freedom made possible in the absence of specific agendas, mission statements or strict deadlines, we decided to try developing some new songs together. Our only 'rule' was that the project would remain secret for the time being, and our only guidelines for the process were that it be entirely enjoyable for us both. As fortune would have it progress was remarkably speedy, the ideas flowed very naturally and the decision to make an album was an easy one.
Initial demos were assembled at home and the tracks were further developed at Tim Hamill's Sonic One studio (where the Panic Room and Luna Rossa back catalogue were also recorded). Although we wrote all of the songs, Tim has also been a major contributor in terms of helping to create the sonic form and structure of the album, as a musician, engineer and co-producer. You'll hear Tim throughout the album, playing bass, acoustic and electric guitar and he also developed and programmed the drum and rhythm tracks
We invited contributions from some very special guests, whose additional talents have really helped bring the music to life. You'll hear Dave Gregory's hauntingly atmospheric guitar playing on 'Ghosts In The Wind' and Chantel McGregor's soulful blues guitar inflections on 'Blood Moon Rising' Steve Balsamo lends his gorgeous voice to several of the tracks including a powerful duetted chorus with Rachel on 'Wonderland (How Can This Be Love?), whilst achingly beautiful violin melodies from Kate Ronconi and Nathan Bray elegant flugelhorn and trumpet lines feature throughout.
'The Science Of Goodbye' is launched amidst the landscape of an historically remarkable 2020 where life as we know it is being rewritten pretty much day by day. May music continue to be a guiding light and a source of comfort for us all...
The Reasoning disbanded in 2014, after which Rachel took an extended break from music to focus on her post-doctoral career as an academic researcher. A casual meeting between Jon & Rachel at the end of 2018 led to much musical reminiscing and a shared desire to rekindle their songwriting partnership... and so here
THE PRESENT TENSE
With the kind of creative freedom made possible in the absence of specific agendas, mission statements or strict deadlines, we decided to try developing some new songs together. Our only 'rule' was that the project would remain secret for the time being, and our only guidelines for the process were that it be entirely enjoyable for us both. As fortune would have it progress was remarkably speedy, the ideas flowed very naturally and the decision to make an album was an easy one.
Initial demos were assembled at home and the tracks were further developed at Tim Hamill's Sonic One studio (where the Panic Room and Luna Rossa back catalogue were also recorded). Although we wrote all of the songs, Tim has also been a major contributor in terms of helping to create the sonic form and structure of the album, as a musician, engineer and co-producer. You'll hear Tim throughout the album, playing bass, acoustic and electric guitar and he also developed and programmed the drum and rhythm tracks
We invited contributions from some very special guests, whose additional talents have really helped bring the music to life. You'll hear Dave Gregory's hauntingly atmospheric guitar playing on 'Ghosts In The Wind' and Chantel McGregor's soulful blues guitar inflections on 'Blood Moon Rising' Steve Balsamo lends his gorgeous voice to several of the tracks including a powerful duetted chorus with Rachel on 'Wonderland (How Can This Be Love?), whilst achingly beautiful violin melodies from Kate Ronconi and Nathan Bray elegant flugelhorn and trumpet lines feature throughout.
'The Science Of Goodbye' is launched amidst the landscape of an historically remarkable 2020 where life as we know it is being rewritten pretty much day by day. May music continue to be a guiding light and a source of comfort for us all...