PRESS

 

PITCHFORK

Brooklyn duo Color War have an intriguingly dark sound, as represented on this new song from their forthcoming debut LP, It Could Only Be This Way. The menacingly glimmering synth work that lies below Lindsay Mound’s cresting vocals are reminiscent of the framework of Swedish fitted-hat-loving electro-pop outfit Kate Boy's "Northern Lights", which is a very good thing. It Could Only Be This Way should be coming out this fall via Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

-- Larry Fitzmaurice, 31 JUL 2013

 

NOWNESS

“We were really vibing on a coming-of-age story; a very precious moment that could be expressed through these young girls who seemed to be at various stages of adolescence,” Mound says, working with stylist Julie Brooke Williams. “I had one of the ballerinas wear a Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt that I’ve had since I was 13. I got it at my first concert and thought it would be cool to see it on a teenager from another generation.”

-- Rebecca Guinness, 7 NOV 2014

 

NOISEY

"Color War's latest song starts in ambient swathes with singer Lindsay Mound's ethereal incantations. Here the NYC trio move through the song like a sun-dazed kid skipping through a field of flowers, speeding up and tripping over, and falling into a synthy swoon, and spinning in giddy circles for the chorus."

-- 29 JUN 2016

 

"Color War's new track "Hallways" is excellent. With its boomy 80s smacks and Italo disco oscillations, singer Lindsay Mound's 2 AM croon weaves a spell of recollection: remember passing that person you liked in the school hallway? When one flicked glance and look away was enough to have you blushing in your Keds. Sigh. At least that's what I thought when I first heard it. But then, the more you listen, the more a different, more heartbreaking narrative emerges: about walking past your ex's house, the key you never gave back burning a hole in your pocket, daydreaming about encountering that lover again and falling into a tryst made breathless by the weight of history."

-- 2 JULY 2015

 

"Here at Noisey we spend a lot of time watching music videos. We are music video connoisseurs and choosy motherfuckers so it takes a lot to make us go, "Damn!" Color War's video for "Shapeshifting" not only made us go "Damn!" it also made us go:

"WTF! Are bodies supposed to bend that way?" 

We last wrote about Brooklyn duo Color War in late 2013 when they released their airy synth-pop tune ”SOS,” but this track takes a slightly different tact: they sound like Warpaint if they spent and entire year listening to Italo disco on downers. It’s dope."

-- 11 NOV 2014

 

This is only the second ever track from Brooklyn-based duo Color War. Made up of visual artists-turned-musicians Justin “Billy J” Lin and vocalist Lindsay Mound, "SOS" has the kind of cascading synths that make us feel ice cool, like Deckard in Blade Runner. Additionally, it takes some balls to build and build for close to five minutes before finally dropping a Stevie Nicks-ian climactic wig out. Nicely done.

--  3 DEC 2013

 

PAPERMAG

Brilliant video -- and the kind that doesn't come around every day -- for Color War's single, "Shapeshifting." 

-- Gary Pini, 10 NOV 2014

 

STEREOGUM

Brooklyn’s Color War having a thumping, gorgeous goth torch-song on their hands with their single “Obelisk.” The track, which comes from the forthcoming LP It Could Only Be This Way, has also been given a video, featuring the duo giving a shadowy but prismatically-tinged woods performance, replete with pray candle shrines.

-- Claire Lobenfeld, 20 AUG 2013

 

Color War make dark, moody synth pop that walks a fine line; it sounds like something you could expect to hear in a club, but also something that you could see being remixed by Xiu Xiu. This remix of “SOS” drains most of the color and rhythms out of the track, leaving dissonant drones and a beat that thumps, but doesn’t inspire movement so much as deer in the headlights stillness. What’s left is the bare and now somewhat unsettling vocal track, barreling along nearly a capella at times, echoing like a diva in an abandoned club. Listen below.

-- Miles Bowe, 19 FEB 2014

 

SPIN

Color War's Justin "Billy J" Lin and Lindsay Mound originally met in 2004, when they were both working as visual artists. In 2009, the Brooklyn-based duo began collaborating on music, assuming their name and honing their dark electronics. Now, Color War are gearing up to unveil their debut album, It Could Only Be This Way, due March 4 via Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. With that preparation comes the official video for the album's second single, "SOS" (lead track "Obelisk" surfaced last summer). Directed by Lin and Mound's friend Julia Ngeow, the clip is rich in ceremony and color, telling the story of a royal who's beset upon by evil forces. Watch the drama unfold above.

-- Kyle McGovern, 22 JAN 2014

 

AD HOC

Phoenix-based DJ Clap has distinguished himself with the manic tempo of his footwork-influenced productions-- a sound reflected on his debut album, Best Night Ever, which was released last year. His remix of synthpop band Color War's "SOS" contrasts sharply with his previous work. The track is, by his standards, almost sedate-- dominated by atmospheric synth pads and pitched down vocals rather than dense, rapidly cut samples. A paranoid drum pattern maintains a sense of anxiety throughout the remix, however. Perhaps this is an indication of a new direction DJ Clap's work may be headed-- but, then again, so could the three short "Gangnam Style" sampling vignettes he's put on his Soundcloud in the past month.  

-- Miguel Gallego21 FEB 2014

 

MY OLD KENTUCKY BLOG

It Could Only Be This Way is the title of the new LP from Brooklyn’s Color War. The first single is a looming synth number with thumping beats “Obelisk” and in the video singer Lindsay Mound dances around like a modern day Stevie Nicks spawning witchcraft on the viewers. Look for the LP soon via Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse.

-- 22 AUG 2013

 

CMJ

Brooklyn’s Color War have an LP entitled It Could Only Be This Way in the pipeline; it’s due out sometime this year on Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse. In advance of that, one of the album’s songs, Obelisk, has been given a nightmarish makeover.

In the clip, the duo prance around an eerily lit forest. As champions of sub-ladened and reverb drenched beats, they’ve nailed the sound down to a tee.

-- 20 AUG 2013

 

THE DELI MAGAZINE

With the release of teutonically sober single "SOS" (streaming) Brooklyn electro duo Color War is announcing the release of their debut album "It Could Only Be This Way," scheduled for March 2014. There's something reminiscent of (very) early Simple Minds in these guys' compositions, in the melodies and sometimes even in the use of the electronic arpeggiators. Hopefully the band won't hate us for saying this, since Jim Kerr's band ended up becoming one of the symbols of cheesy late 80s arena rock. But their first 3-4 albums (unknown to the masses) kick asses and sound incredibly original. Besides, I'm sure they wouln't mind a career as long and rewarding as theirs...

-- 6 DEC 2013

 

I FOUND MUSIC

Following Color War’s collection of demos The Prismatic Collection EP, ”Obelisk” works as the Brooklyn duo’s first proper release. Esthetically and relatively speaking, “Obelisk” inhabits an austere middle-ground between Keep Shelly In Athen’s suggestive ambiance and the smoky expansive textures of Chormatics, while not quite sounding like any of them. Driven by a gloriously manic bass line, the “Obelisk” feels almost possessed and pushes further than the regularities of synth-pop. As the ominously radiant synthesizers get increasingly expansive and abstract, Lindsay Mound’s vocals ascend accordingly, up to the point where the tactile framework just barely manages to keep her enclosed. The duo builds mountains of tension, without ever liberating any of it, which creates the sensation of being trapped in a drugged-up, sleepless state of mind with nothing but a pair of headphones as company.

-- Stefan Ferenc, 24 AUG 2013