The Reds, Pinks and Purples released their latest album, Acknowledge Kindness, this April. The 11 tracks illuminate the life of prolific songwriter Glenn Donaldson in an emotional amalgamation of past, present and possible futures.

Acknowledge Kindness is created from a new headspace, a more assured plateau where Donaldson observes both the present and the weight of what came before it. Songs feel rooted in a deeper and more active sense of nostalgia as Donaldson leans into that instinct throughout the record, allowing himself to look back with intent, to sift through old feelings, and to revisit moments that once carried a sting.

‘This album is probably about learning to live with your ghosts and trying to be alive in the present. There’s a certain kind of big sounding record I aspire to make, like California by American Music Club or 16- Lover’s Lane by The Go-Betweens, works that steer into the pain but become a transportational device for the listener,’ Donaldson comments.

This record evolves naturally from the heavier, melancholic tones of previous releases, but here the mood feels more exposed and reflective, blossoming into lush dreamscapes. Donaldson’s vocals are captured in high fidelity, raw and immediate, and the lyrical abstraction that haunts the record is underpinned by chiming acoustic guitars and achingly beautiful piano that seem to echo the act of remembrance itself.

‘I worked on this record for eight months, trying to get the arrangements just right while keeping the feelings at the core of it; it became a stream of consciousness, inspired by pulling out terrible old journals, reading poetry paperbacks, listening to devastating records, walking through the park getting stoned while staring at flowers, and just trying to take it over the top in general.’

New Leaf teases with a perpetual guitar line plucking at the heartstrings while a sub-melody cushions Donaldson’s musings. By contrast, Heaven of Love tackles cynicism with some positive energy fending off the shadows as it tumbles into a glorious chorus, and the guitars on Worthy of Love chime dutifully as it dispels heavy memories and heads for a better place. Amid the tumult there are two super plush instrumentals, the winsome Blue Heron Lake and the symphonic title track that both sound like Eno post Roxy/pre-ambient or Felt-without-words.

Acknowledge Kindness expands The Reds, Pinks and Purples’ emotional and sonic panorama. Donaldson’s ongoing world-building in songs and images is both warmly nostalgic and strikingly original.

Having written more than 200 songs and released nine albums in just six years, Glenn Donaldson has shaped a distinctive brand of emotional pop-music built for the quiet hours and the restless mind. His songs crystallise the tragic, self-mythologising kingdoms of fortunate failures, misfit heroes, and humanity in all its romanticised wonder and woe.

‘People read some of the more humorous lines in my songs as irony, but honesty is funnier. These songs are just me, even if the sentiments seem exaggerated. There’s enough abstraction in the images on this one that the listener can find their own messages.’

Following the release of Acknowledge Kindness, The Reds, Pinks and Purples announce a companion record, True Love Daydream, arriving on 25 September. Ever prolific, most of the music on True Love Daydream was created by Donaldson at the same time as Acknowledge Kindness. Donaldson eloquently describes the EP as ‘a little boat set adrift off the shore of the main album’.

With each release, The Reds, Pinks and Purples continue to expand their universe of beautifully bruised pop, leaving an indelible mark on bedrooms and hearts across the world.

‘Donaldson’s undeniable homage is exquisitely on the nose, one comforting swoon after another’ – MOJO

‘Another band that could be our life’ – Louder Than War

‘Perfect pop’ – AllMusic

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