The Color of Hearts
From the early days of CoolDad Music -- since our very first year five years ago, as a matter of fact -- I've been telling you about NJ band Honeydrum. The band specialized in lo-fi, retro-inspired pop reminiscent of something like Ariel Pink. Short, infectious pop songs about lots of those things that pop songs are about: love, obsession. Honeydrum put out music at furious clip, releasing something like 9 EPs over the course of two years.
In 2014, frontman Joe Black and bassist Ray Schwab released a full-length as Donovan Blanc. Their self-titled debut brought many of the ideas in Honeydrum to a fuller more polished realization. Now, Donovan Blanc are back with The Color of Hearts. On their latest release, the band play with the sounds of 70s disco. There's a definite Bee Gees vibe that comes through on opener "Never Let You Down" as well as "I've Never Loved Someone (Like You)." The title track feels like soulful 70s AM radio pop. There's a hint of country twang on "You Made a Fool of Me" (which also sounds like it's played over one of the built in tracks on an electric piano you'd buy at the mall back when I was a kid) and "Breanna," but both still exude a disco vibe.
What shines throughout the album is the fact that Donovan Blanc know how to write a damn good pop song, whether that song is a disco bop or a country waltz.
The Color of Hearts is available now over at Donovan Blanc's Bandcamp page as either a download or a limited run of gold cassettes. Cassettes are also available via the Captured Tracks store.
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