The Colourful Fan have sent in a CD with some of their latest songs on. It is, according to the two piece, a rather limited affair, having been "recorded at home on very basic equipment". Despite this, Liquorice Tone by The Colourful Fan sounds good. Very good.

Piano Men:

The music has something of a psychedelic sixties tinge to it. Dan Harris and John de Gruyther are not scared to move away from the traditional guitar heavy line up favoured by most bands.

There is a great deal of piano ("Forever or Now" features a mournful, echo-y piano melody that sounds like it could have been recorded in a haunted house).

Fan-tastic Songs:

There is also a great deal of close harmony. Think "Homeward Bound" by Simon and Garfunkel and you are part of the way there. Where there is a guitar, it is used sparingly, weaving around in a distorted mist, never getting in the way.

For most of the four tracks, the Fan seem to be in late Sixties/early Seventies San Francisco time warp. Closing track "The Truth Hurts" could easily sit on a compilation nest to "California Dreaming".

Two From the Modern:

Elsewhere, the two piece sound like they should be sat in Birmingham recording studio, Moseley Shoals, in the mid-nineties. Tonight, Matthew, The Colourful Fan will be Ocean Colour Scene - but only some of the time.

For all the dismissal the band offer regarding the quality of their recording, what can be heard is something approaching an understated talent. Between the two of them, they are responsible for playing seven different instruments and both of them sing.

The Colourful Manifesto:

Their aim is to recruit strings and a brass section for some of their songs. This would no doubt give them more creative power. Given the almost symphonic nature of some of the tracks on this E.P., it is easy to see how much they could do with a few more instruments.

Harris and De Gruyther make the music, the lyrics, the harmonies and the instrumentation sound ridiculously easy. There is a freshness to their output that makes it all sound fresh and imaginative.

The Weather Forecast:

Despite the sunny sound that their style of music usually lends itself to, there is a great deal of coldness and wetness in the tracks. The opening track is called "Winter's Calling Me" and third track "Green and Golden Sun" features lines such as "when you love it leaves you cold", while the melody of "Forever or Now" remains chilling after several listens.

Unlike most bands, The Colourful Fan save the best till last. "The Truth Hurts" is about a serial adulterer. "Tell me how you feel/lying in a bed that isn't yours" runs the lyrics. The weather theme runs through this song too: "The sun is shining/but it's outside/have you ever told the truth before"

The result is that The Colourful Fan are a band of contradictions, as all good bands are: Simultaneously light and fluffy and dark and brooding . Gloucestershire really could do with hearing more from these people.

14/04/04 - First published on www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire on this link