Colour Me Wednesday - Anyone and Everyone

Colour Me Wednesday have always perfectly towed the line between personal and political, and their new EP Anyone and Everyone sees the band embracing their personal side.

As always, the band show their talent for creating infectious melodies that lead to repeated listenings, each one progressively louder. This especially applies to Two-Fifty For You Girls.

In Your Shoes is like nothing they've yet done before. It's a slower and dreamy track, with the keyboards adding to the songs reflective atmosphere and perfectly complimenting Jen's soaring vocals, while also showing that the band aren't afraid to experiment. Musically, it feels like a naturally progression from the title track of their album, I Thought It Was Morning.

Don't Tell Anyone is my personal favourite track, I love the harmonies and backing vocals. Lyrically, it's not the most positive song, but it's sung and played in such a way that I can't help but feel happy when I listen to it.

This EP is the perfect soundtrack for saying goodbye (and fuck you) to winter, and optimistically throwing away your Vitamin D supplements. It sounds like daisy-fueled daydreams and bright colours. With each release, Colour Me Wednesday seem more confident in their sound, and I can't wait to see where they go with their next full-length release.

If you're still on-the-fence about buying this EP, then let the fact that each CD comes in a unique, handmade cover from the band themselves push you over that fence (it's also available on a pretty white vinyl, and/or cassette). Have a look for yourself here.

Colour Me Wednesday + Baby Brave - PUKE - Retro Bar, Manchester

Tonight was my first time at Manchester's Retro Bar, and it's a great gig venue; the bands play in the basement, which provides a close, intimate setting. I'm looking forward to, hopefully, seeing more bands there in the future.

The night was kicked off by Primeministers of the United Kingdom of England (or PUKE), which is actually members of Manchester band Claw the Thin Ice playing Presidents of the United States of America. I enjoyed this version of the band, and can honestly say that, of the two cover bands I've seen in my life, they were the best!

Next up were Baby Brave who, you may remember, I fell in love with back in February when they played at The Eagle Inn. Having arrived at the venue without any time to do a soundcheck, their first couple of songs basically filled this role - at first, I thought they sounded great but, once the bass became more audible, I realised that now they sounded great.

Oyonaxx is still my favourite song of theirs, but I'm also now developing obsessions with Jitters and Rock Paper Scissors. They also played a new song which, unfortunately, I can't remember the name of now. I can tell you that it also belongs on my list of favourite Baby Brave songs.

I've been a fan of Colour Me Wednesday for a few years now, but this was my first time actually getting to see them play. They didn't disappoint, and played a good mix of material from their new EP Anyone and Everyone, their split EP with Spoonboy, and their album.

Towards the end of their set, Jennifer and Harriet commented that they were both losing their voices ("talking too much shit in the van!"), but it didn't show.

After ending their set with Purge Your Inner Tory, they came back on for an encore of Sweaters, which just happens to be my favourite song of theirs, so was pretty much a perfect end to the night!