Colorama are a British psychedelic pop band formed in Cardiff, Wales in 2008 – the brainchild of Carwyn Ellis, the respected multi-instrumentalist & producer who has performed or collaborated with the likes of Edwyn Collins, Oasis, UNKLE, Shane MacGowan, James Hunter, Lay Low, Gemma Ray, The Pretenders and The 2 Bears to name just a few.
Colorama’s debut album ‘Cookie Zoo’ received a Japan release to giddy critical acclaim, and their first single, ‘Sound’ was an instant psych pop wonder – a perfect introduction into a sonic world you won’t wanna leave.
‘Magic Lantern Show’, featuring songs in Welsh and English was released in 2009 summer with ‘Dere Mewn’ becoming a modern classic in Wales and garnering rave reviews and lots of airplay on both sides of the border. Described as ‘incredible’ by Huw Stephens and hailed a ‘Soft Psych Classic’ by Sean Rowley, Magic Lantern Show was championed by Marc Riley, Adam Walton, Bethan Elfyn, Gideon Coe and all of their releases have been enthusiastically received with extensive radio play on XFM, BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1 & BBC Radio Wales.
The band started playing together in early July 2008 and have since played Glastonbury Festival, Latitude Festival, Home Game, The Sŵn Festival, Port Eliot Festival, Truck Festival, National Eisteddfodau, the Green Man Festival and many more.
In the autumn of 2010, Colorama released their third album BOX on Noise McCartney / Bad News Records (Victor Entertainment) in Japan and via See Monkey Do Monkey Recordings in UK. Shortly afterwards, they released a Christmas single, ‘Cerdyn Nadolig’ (‘Christmas Card’) which garnered them the Welsh Christmas Number 1 on the BBC Radio Cymru chart. BOX was also nominated for the inaugural Welsh Music Prize along with Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals and Manic Street Preachers amid other artists.
In October 2011, Colorama released Llyfr Lliwio ( Colouring Book ) on Cardiff label, See Monkey Do Monkey Recordings. This was their first predominantly Welsh-language release, with only one song being in English.
Summer 2012 sees their fifth CD release – ‘Good Music’, produced by Edwyn Collins and released on his new AED Records label, amid much anticipation – with the promise of more mercurial gigs and festival appearances to come…