Orphan Colours announce debut album

Orphan Colours

When UK alt.country outfit ahab went on indefinite hiatus, song-writer Steven Llewellyn decided to form his own band with the help of ahab originator Dave Burn and former bassist Graham Knight. Orphan Colours was born!

Being firmly a part of the London Americana scene made it easy to get involved in collaborations with members of bands like Danny & The Champions of The World, who’s drummer Steve Brookes, already having toured heavily with ahab, quickly became a permanent member of Orphan Colours, along with Fred Abbott, formerly lead guitarist with Noah & the Whale.

After a successful EP release the band focussed on building a live reputation on the festival circuit, playing the likes of Cambridge Folk Festival & Maverick, as well as headlining their own show at London’s iconic The Borderline.

Alongside all of this the band were busy writing and recording their debut album All On Red. Llewellyn explains:

“Most of the songs are about relationships of friends or lovers, breaking down or beginning. I had written my fair share of sensitive songs for ahab – about love and loss and all that, and there’s a few on here but I really wanted to bring a bit of rock n roll into the UK Americana scene and I feel like we’ve achieved a good balance on this record. I want it to excite people most of all.”

“I picked the name [All On Red] because of it’s meaning in gambling, which is essentially what all this music biz career is. At the end of 2013 both ahab and Noah & The Whale had been chewed up and spat out by the music business. We found ourselves out of a job despite both band’s upward trajectories. The toll of touring and hard graft was too much. Speaking for myself, I had a lot more to give and I wasn’t anywhere near done yet. I had a back log of songs that weren’t fit for ahab and I wanted to get them out into the world. So despite having failed with ahab and the financial pressures I was under, I put every penny I had into this project. I had an amazing band, we had a great producer guiding us (Rupert Christie – High Hopes EP) and a very experienced manager that believed in us. The odds, I thought were as good as they could be these days. Three years later here we are with our debut album, a record deal and a full UK tour booked. The bet has so far paid off.”

Artists’ website: https://www.orphancolours.com/

‘Goodnight California’: