There’s nothing like a surprise release from a great band: Winterpills, say, putting out an unexpected single. Sure, the Northampton group posted “Colorblind” in August, but it’s never too late to celebrate, right?
The song lands on the more uptempo end of the Winterpills spectrum. A taut backbeat pushes layers of acoustic and electric guitars and stacks of vocals that soar into a sweeping refrain as Philip Price and Flora Reed intertwine their voices, with backing from guitarist Dennis Crommett, bassist Max Germer and drummer Dave Hower. Toward the end, the song teeters into a woozy piano part with all the creaky, discordant atmospherics of a haunted house. In other words, “Colorblind” is essentially a clinic in all the things Winterpills does so well.
The band recorded “Colorblind” with with Justin Pizzoferrato (Dinosaur Jr., Speedy Ortiz) at his Sonelab studio in Easthampton. Pizzoferrato also worked on Winterpills’ 2016 album “Love Songs,” which I wrote about here.
As it happens, Winterpills performs with Kat Wright, LuxDeluxe and the Basement Cats and more this Saturday, October 21, at Gateway City Arts in Holyoke, as part of a weekend-long HeART for Puerto Rico benefit. Tickets are $25 for Saturday, or $60 for the whole weekend, with proceeds going toward relief efforts in Puerto Rico, or in Holyoke, which is preparing to receive receive more than 3,500 family members and friends from the island who lost their homes in Hurricane Maria.