Graffiti6
Colours
Release Date: Jan 24, 2012
Genre(s): Electronic, Electronica, Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Rock
Record label: Capitol
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Album Review: Colours by Graffiti6
Very Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Challenging Madonna in the reinvention stakes, London-based singer/songwriter Jamie Scott returns, alongside respected producer Tommy D (Kanye West, Jay-Z, Kylie), with his third musical incarnation in six years, Graffiti6. Positioned as a legitimate R&B star with his debut album Searching, (released under his own name in 2004), and and his appearance in urban dance flick Step Up, he changed tact for second release, Park Bench Theories, a James Taylor-inspired collection of acoustic ballads recorded under the guise of Jamie Scott & the Town in 2007, and now, three years later, moves the goal posts again, this time with a wildly eclectic effort which at times recalls the psychedelic neo-soul of the under-rated Lewis Taylor, and at others, the hip-hop-infected Motown pop of Mark Ronson. Full of summery melodies, breezy harmonies, and Scott's gorgeous Stevie Wonder-influenced vocals, Colours could well be rivaling Plan B's The Defamation of Strickland Banks and Cee-Lo Green's The Lady Killer as this year's retro-soul barbecue soundtrack of choice, such is its inherently sun-soaked nature.
Based on rating B
Their VH1-approved single ”Free” makes Graffiti6 sound like Bruno Mars crooning over a Script outtake; the U.K. collective would prefer you thought of them as heirs to the Gorillaz ?art-pop throne. Swirling debut Colours actually sits somewhere in between, gently pushing their layered folktronica into a gauze-funk future. Ditch languid yoga jams like ”Calm the Storm” ? and skip straight to the kaleidoscopic beat tornadoes ”Stare Into the Sun” and ”Stop Mary.” B Best Tracks:Spry Stare Into the SunFuzzy Lay Me Down .
Based on rating 6/10
“Graffiti6” sounds like the name of Prince’s new girl group, but it’s actually the British musical duo of producer TommyD and ridiculously handsome heartthrob Jamie Scott. Together they’ve made Colours, an impressively silly little pop album devoted to happy dance grooves. Like many poor saps saddled with perfect bone structure, Scott is really a folk artist in his heart of hearts—the bio says, “Upon hearing [Joni] Mitchell’s Blue at the age of seven,” blah blah blah—and this gives Graffiti6 a Serious Side that pops up every so often.