The Color Spectrum is the name of both the fourth studio album by American progressive rock band The Dear Hunter, and a series of nine EPs by the band, each of which reflects an individual color of the visible color spectrum (namely Black, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet, White).[5] This project was envisioned by frontman Casey Crescenzo as a way to interpret the colors of the spectrum via music. It is their first album that is not part of a common storyline with the rest of their work.
| The Color Spectrum | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 11-track, standard-edition cover. | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | June 14, 2011 | |||
| Recorded | 2010–2011 | |||
| Genre | Black: industrial rock, alternative rock Red: grunge Orange: blues rock, hard rock Yellow: psychedelic rock, pop rock Green: folk, country Blue: soft rock, experimental rock Indigo: electronic rock Violet: baroque pop, alternative rock White: alternative rock, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 41:45 (standard) 144:21 (complete EP set) | |||
| Label | Triple Crown Records | |||
| Producer | Casey Crescenzo | |||
| The Dear Hunter chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Complete Edition cover | ||||
 Cover for the "complete edition", featuring the full project. | ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AbsolutePunk | 89%[2] |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
| Alternative Press | |
| PopMatters |   [4] |
The Color Spectrum was released on June 14, 2011, in two different versions: the "standard" edition, featuring selected songs from the project, and the "Complete Collection" edition, featuring all nine EPs.
Background and recording
editBrendan Brown (formerly in The Receiving End of Sirens with Casey) played bass guitar on the Orange EP. Jessy Ribordy (Falling Up) played mandolin on the Green EP. Naive Thieves helped with songs on the Yellow and Blue EPs. Andy Hull (Manchester Orchestra) provided vocals on tracks 1–3 on the Red EP. Tanner Merritt (O'Brother) sang on "A Curse Of Cynicism". Mike Watts co produced the White and Violet EPs
On April 7, 2011, Crescenzo announced via Twitter that The Color Spectrum was finished.[6]
Promotion and release
editOn April 14, 2011, the band released a free MP3 download of "Deny It All" from the Red EP on their website. On April 26, Alternative Press debuted a lyric video for "This Body" from the Black EP, created by Crescenzo.[7]
Concept
editThe Color Spectrum's influence is the subjectivity of perception and to a lesser extent the freedom it affords its viewer. Crescenzo remarks:
Anything we think of, we can do. Humanity's idea of colors is too broad. This needs to be more personal, because ideas of colors vary from person to person. Even for people who have synesthesia, the specific images or sounds they hear attached to colors vary from person to person. And that just reinforces the point of doing the project, to produce our interpretation of color, the way we feel about colors or are inspired by the colors – how we hear them or see them.[8]
Track listings
editStandard release track listing
editAll tracks are written by Casey Crescenzo
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Filth and Squalor (Black)" | 4:01 |
| 2. | "Deny It All (Red)" | 3:34 |
| 3. | "But There's Wolves? (Orange)" | 4:04 |
| 4. | "She's Always Singing (Yellow)" | 2:40 |
| 5. | "Things That Hide Away (Green)" | 3:24 |
| 6. | "The Canopy (Green)" | 3:52 |
| 7. | "Trapdoor (Blue)" | 3:54 |
| 8. | "What Time Taught Us (Indigo)" | 4:07 |
| 9. | "Lillian (Violet)" | 4:07 |
| 10. | "Home (White)" | 3:55 |
| 11. | "Fall and Flee (White)" | 4:07 |
Complete collection track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Never Forgive, Never Forget" | 4:41 |
| 2. | "Filth and Squalor" | 4:01 |
| 3. | "Take More Than You Need" | 4:30 |
| 4. | "This Body" | 4:47 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I Couldn't Do It Alone" | 3:29 |
| 2. | "A Curse of Cynicism" | 3:11 |
| 3. | "Deny It All" | 3:34 |
| 4. | "We've Got a Score to Settle" | 3:45 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Echo" | 4:06 |
| 2. | "Stuck On a Wire, Out On a Fence" | 3:08 |
| 3. | "A Sea of Solid Earth" | 4:41 |
| 4. | "But There's Wolves?" | 4:06 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "She's Always Singing" | 2:40 |
| 2. | "The Dead Don't Starve" | 4:57 |
| 3. | "A Sua Voz" | 3:20 |
| 4. | "Misplaced Devotion" | 3:46 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Things That Hide Away" | 3:24 |
| 2. | "The Canopy" | 3:52 |
| 3. | "Crow and Cackle" | 5:43 |
| 4. | "The Inheritance" | 3:26 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Tripping in Triplets" | 3:52 |
| 2. | "Trapdoor" | 3:54 |
| 3. | "What You Said" | 5:04 |
| 4. | "The Collapse of the Great Tide Cliffs" | 5:33 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "What Time Taught Us" | 4:07 |
| 2. | "Mandala" | 4:55 |
| 3. | "Progress" | 3:35 |
| 4. | "Therma" | 2:43 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mr. Malum" | 3:57 |
| 2. | "Lillian" | 4:07 |
| 3. | "Too Late" | 4:03 |
| 4. | "Look Away" | 3:41 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Home" | 3:55 |
| 2. | "Fall and Flee" | 4:05 |
| 3. | "No God" | 3:49 |
| 4. | "Lost But Not All Gone" | 3:58 |
References
edit- ^ "The Color Spectrum by The Dear Hunter Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
- ^ "chorus.fm". chorus.fm. 8 October 2023.
- ^ The Color Spectrum at AllMusic
- ^ "The Dear Hunter: The Color Spectrum | PopMatters". Archived from the original on 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
- ^ "Triple Crown Records – The Color Spectrum : The Complete Collection – Vinyl – Official Merch – Powered by MerchDirect". Merchdirect.com. 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
- ^ Casey Crescenzo [@CaseyCrescenzo] (7 April 2011). "9 months, 36 songs, and 1 project later" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 December 2012 – via Twitter.
- ^ ""A Score To Settle" Live". YouTube. 2011-06-07. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013. Retrieved 2011-07-26.
- ^ Block, Summer (2012-02-03). "The Dear Hunter: Reinventing the Color Wheel". alarm-magazine.com. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
- ^ "The Color Spectrum The Complete Collection: The Dear Hunter: Amazon.co.uk: MP3 Downloads". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-07-26.