Color War – It Could Only Be This Way

Color War
It Could Only Be This Way
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
★★★

Color War has my attention! As “Plate Techtonics” opens up It Could Only Be This Way, the controlled cold beat throbs back and forth, creating a pulse that is as sultry as it is isolated. The synths try to help out, but this cold shoulder cannot be ignored.

I want to be serenaded by Lindsay Mound. I want to be immersed in their existential love affair. A distant glance, a cold breeze. Torn between two worlds, “Plate Techtonics” could be easily as heartbreaking as it is lustful.

“Hallways” utilizes the architecture of disconcordant beats with cold metallic synth swirl. The vocals burn futuristic like a Stanislaw Fernandes painting.

Even though “S.O.S.” is a great song, it sets a trend on this album where songs don’t deviate too much from what becomes characteristic Color War songwriting.

“U Saved My Life” is the band’s chance at tackling a ballad that runs somewhere between Sinead O’Connor and Purple Rain-era Prince. A few instrumentals take over until “I Like It This Way” sets us up for a new religion, submission from technology. Mound’s voice sounds like a plea.

It isn’t until “Shapeshifting” that brings us back into pulsating dancefloor electronic drive. The band sounds like Ms. Kitten with the soft synths and industrialized rhythm. A perfect candidate for a ZZT single altered to a current context in order to push the boundaries. It’s the last piece of coherency before an organ filled with chords escort us out.

It took a while for me to get beyond some of the album’s cliches, but each song grew stronger over time. Once you listen for a while, these works only become stronger.