(red), (yellow), (blue) is the new project from Dutch cult favourites De Staat. With six million views for their spectacular viral video Witch Doctor and support slots for the Rolling Stones and Muse under their belt, the band have decided to take a different approach to releasing new music by embracing their musical diversity and famous eclecticism to produce rock and roll’s first auditory art project.
De Staat have split themselves up into the three primary colours, representing the full spectrum of what they are. It is an experiment in song writing that firmly sticks two fingers up to the concept of genre and a creative challenge for a hugely successful band 14 years into their career, forcing them to work under brackets that isolate the different elements of their music. Explaining what each colour represents, frontman Torre Florim says;
“(red) represents a darker, more aggressive part of us, the part of me that writes about ego,” explains Florim.(yellow) is the music we make that is more upbeat, fun, danceable. (blue) feels more introspective and personal and spacious, songs where I dig into myself a bit more. For (blue) , I really sing. “(red) is me mostly shouting!”
Look At Me, the first of the ‘(red)‘ tracks is a rollicking satire of rock and roll egotism bellowed out over a crazy, deep-techno riff. The bone-shaking Numbers Up is the first ‘(yellow)‘ song. Quoting squelchy eighties funk in playful basslines, and toying with Talking Heads influences. What goes let go is beautifully ‘(blue)‘. In a soul voice reminiscent of Peter Gabriel or Seal, over a rich sequence of surprising chords, Florim sings tentatively about the personal and the scientific, embracing perhaps the most surprising side of De Staat.
“For us it’s a new chapter. Like any relationship, when you’re together for such a long time you automatically start to look around and think, do we need to spice things up a bit? Dividing our songs up into three colours is a great way to challenge ourselves creatively, and everyone around us. It’s a work in progress – we’re still writing it!”
While other bands are forced to slim down dozens of diverse tracks for a ten-song album De Staat are now able to embrace the breadth of what they do naturally and let the world hear it.
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