Today, The Reds, Pinks & Purples announce their second LP, Summer at Land's End, to be released Feb. 4, 2022. You can pre-order it here.

Summer at Land's End is not an interlude or tangent for The Reds, Pinks & Purples but rather a perfect fourth movement following the albums Anxiety Art, You Might Be Happy Someday, and Uncommon Weather. As with these self-recorded records (the primary work of songwriter Glenn Donaldson), the songs on Summer at Land's End were crafted slowly and then drawn together to make a unified statement. But here, and more than before, Summer at Land's End combines Donaldson's rueful pop sensibility with a parallel musical universe, one composed of pictures, dreams, and feelings without words. Even if the underlying theme of this collection is one of conflict or unhappiness, the vision of the music presents an escape to a new world, always fading in and out of sight. Check out 'Don't Come Home Too Soon' below for a delightful taste of The Reds, Pinks & Purples' Slumberland.

For listeners who may not be familiar with Donaldson's corner of San Francisco–– the Richmond district––or the current wave of hazy, melodic DIY pop groups performing in the city, Summer at Land's End pulls in images and scenes that feel like a collision of the mundane and the sublime of this present landscape. But settings such as these are the backdrop for personal narratives, expressed as a struggle with love, with companionship and the conflicts of home. With this record, The Reds, Pinks & Purples give less focus to the vanities of a subculture and more to the challenge of connecting with someone, to the ordinary goals of being human and finding harmony with others.

This deliberate saturation in drama and ambiance, along with some of Donaldson's best songwriting to date, is what gives Summer at Land's End its special class in the project's discography. Of the album's cinematic mood, Donaldson refers to films like Summer of '42 and the influence of the classic 4AD catalogue of the 1990s. This style informs much of Donaldson's prior and current ventures of course (The Ivytree, Art Museums, Vacant Gardens, and a dozen projects in between) but now The Reds, Pinks & Purples have taken the mantle, embracing this instinct for instrumental or dreamier modes of pop songwriting. It's a pleasure to experience Summer at Land's End, as this record finds a thrilling balance between songs and sounds, instruments and voices, and the ironic twin poles of art and life.

Upcoming Shows:

11/6 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
1/6 – Oakland, CA – Golden Bull (Oakland Weekender)

Track Listing:

01 Don't Come Home Too Soon
02 Let's Pretend We're Not in Love
03 New Light
04 My Soul Unburdened
05 Summer at Land's End
06 Pour The Light In
07 All Night We Move
08 Tell Me What's Real
09 Upside Down in an Empty Room
10 Dahlias and Rain
11 I'd Rather Not Go Your Way
12 Never Said I Was Sorry Then
13 Hummingbirds
14 Holiday Cheer
15 Randy If You Were Here
16 Public Fountains
17 Outer Avenues
18 Sea Wall
19 Mountain Lake Park
20 Conservatory of Flowers
21 Like a Ghost Warmed Over
22 Midday Sun