At a time when the world seems to be teetering between light and shadow, ColourTelly hits with a single that feels less like just a new release and more like a necessary exhale. “Breathe” constitutes their latest offering, recorded in their Penge, South London, studio, and it arrives with the weight and candor of artists willing to speak out loud what many are feeling.
Layered over touching textures and deeply felt lyricism, “Breathe” moves with the ebb and flow of the time we find ourselves in. There’s a quiet urgency to the way the song develops that feels, in its quiet way, as confrontational and truth-telling. The track doesn’t refuse to acknowledge corruption, disarray, and unrest, it takes these harsh truths and transforms them into a common ground for reflection. It’s a hand emerging out of the static, telling us to let our gaze slide back and learn to breathe through it all.
ColourTelly has incorporated a variety of inspirations, tipping a hat especially to the trip-hop deepness of Portishead. But what gives “Breathe” its resonance is the way it avoids camping out in twindom. The song stands by itself, an abyssal clutch set alongside a touch of resilience that needs to be listened to over and over again. Each note feels deliberate, each lyric an attempt to swim through the noise of a world awash in chaos.
“Breathe” works so well because it’s not mere commentary, it’s a conversation. It’s a think piece of a track, but also one that encourages listeners to reckon with its and maybe our! Relationship to the times we’re in. In so doing, ColourTelly establishes its voice as one that’s not just there for the music, but is there for the tales and the perspectives, for the words and the justification to be made to a generation that is often seen as bereft of its biggest strength and connection.
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