A Darker Color Bright - Adcbep1

I really, really like the way Midwest USA darkpop artist A Darker Color Bright presents himself; he maintains an anonymous identity while letting his music do the talking. I like when bands and musicians try and sell themselves based on their talent and not imagery or sex appeal, so kudos to this guy for what he's doing. Information regarding him and his project otherwise, however, is sparse and what you see is what you get. However, ADCB has released his debut EP lately so we can check that out. 

The EP is title Adcbep1, which in turn stands for "A Darker Color Bright EP 1". It's a not so cryptic message that practically anyone could get, but if you really, really struggle to understand that then there might not be so much hope for you in the long run. I will admit that after seeing the title of the album I sighed a little on the inside as it was very uninspired. I know above I said that he lets his music do the talking and that I appreciate that, but the title could use work. At least a little. Though it has no effect on the overall score that I give the album. 

However, the cover art for the EP is a little more tangible. There's a being resembling a man off to the left who looks like it's either dissipating or building itself from thin air. To the right of this figure is a little bird with a heart hanging from its beak, but the bird in question is chained to a cage which hangs from another tree. I guess it's a metaphor for love or something similar, but needless to say I do appreciate the art.

The EP starts off with a instrumental track called 'Love'. Gloomy piano notes strike above a light-hearted, ticking electronic rhythm. While it was decent sounding I wanted something a little more solid and a song that actually represented the darkpop ADCB advertises himself as. 'Shadow' did just that, slowly creeping in with glitchy and static ridden vocals over a dreamy, ambient soundscape. I do believe his voice was a tad bit intense for the melancholy beat at times (such as the section between 1:38 and 1:52). However, it was not such a long stint that I cursed the song to death, so take it with a grain of salt. 

'Missing You' starts off with a familiar noise of a record player scratching at its audio source along with angelic chords. ADCB brings in his soothing set of chords - this time without as much effects - and a slow riding synth line serves as a bit of a structure for the entire song. I think if there's any one song on the EP you should check out, it would be this one. 

'Fluorescent' is a soft, sample ridden instrumental that plays with light drum'and'bass elements, synths, and piano notes. The final song actually brings in darkpop inspired sound at its fullest on the album. The notes are grim but fancy, moody guitar puts the song in its place, and ADCB is able to vocally carry us through the album. Not bad at all. 

Anyway, A Darker Color Bright is off to a swell start with his starting EP. While it didn't rock me quite as much as other music has in the past, I can still come off this album nitpicking at least 'Romagnetic' and 'Shadow' to stay in a playlist I would set. The rest of the songs are nice but don't quite hit the mark as well as these songs do. Either way, I think ADCB will launch himself higher after this; he's got talent and potential. Let's see him put it all to good use. 
Jun 22 2016