Colourblind
Sitting down with Mauvey, the genre-transcending artist taking the UK by storm, we reflected on everything that’s happened since quarantine started (over Zoom, of course). Just earlier this year, in February, Mauvey and his team performed a concert in Scotland, where I’d had the chance to chat with him about his influences and his upcoming plans. That all seems like a lifetime away; but, from talking with him again, he’s determined to work through and create music no matter what’s going on in the world. Impressive. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mauvey, his message focuses primarily on love. And he’s taking that to dizzying new heights––he’s fresh off a win from the MOBO Musicians Help Fund award, and is constantly driven to create and release new content for his fans.
Enter ‘Colourblind’, a special three-single release that’s arrived just as the cold weather seems to set in. The EP is comprised of three energetic singles, ‘Colourblind’, ‘California’, and ‘Minty’, though it sounds better when you play them consecutively, getting the full effect; the songs highlight an 80s synth-pop vibe with profound vocals to bring you up on a dark winter afternoon. Mauvey notes that a lot of this creativity sprung from the blow that the arts community had suffered since the pandemic started (and talked about certain members from certain political parties telling musicians, filmmakers, writers, photographers, etc. to “re-train”...)
He argues that, actually, the arts are more important than ever for the public, saying
“as artists and writers now, it’s important that we narrate what we’re living right now, we’re the people who actually write down the truth through music. The actual, real truth––we shouldn’t just rely on a university, or a professor, or a government.”
In a sense, then, ‘Colourblind’ is about both representing the here and now in order to record life for the history books, and a way of taking us out of the present entirely. Mauvey uses an autobiographical tone, telling me a lot of the song is about his experiences with racism; “adolescence took its toll on me” is a lyric that Mauvey says is “actually the truth”, expressing a feeling of simultaneously having grown up too fast but feeling old. “It’s hard and fast,” Mauvey acknowledges on the call,
“but also long, when you’re Black and everyone else around you is white. It takes its toll.”
That’s why the song’s other side is a spacey, out-of-this-world aesthetic that, in Mauvey’s words, “takes people away from where they are.” Indeed, listening to the three songs on ‘Colourblind’, one gets a sense of transcending, as if Mauvey’s hi-hat drums and melodic 80s synths really do take you to far off worlds or planets. “Maybe you can kind of listen to the song in a different light,” Mauvey says assuredly. “Not with the heaviness of here and now...that’s why there’s a long intro. By the time the first note comes in, you’re already in a different place.” That’s certainly true. I found myself dancing along to ‘Colourblind’, putting a pep in my step with every beat. This is what we need during lockdown.
As to any upcoming projects, Mauvey is pretty confidential, though he offers up a teeny glimpse of what’s to come: “Really exciting collaborations and features.” I, for one, can’t wait!