Reds, Pinks and Purples (The) - Summer At Land’s End : Limited “Mellow Yellow” Double Vinyl LP + Alternative sleeve & Photo fanzine DINKED EXCLUSIVE 158

Tracklisting:
Side A

Don’t Come Home Too Soon (03:12)
Let’s Pretend We’re Not In Love (03:06)
New Light (02:53)
My Soul Unburdened (02:21)
Summer At Land’s End (07:02)

Side B
Pour the Light In (04:10)
All Night We Move (02:42)
Tell Me What’s Real (03:05)
Upside Down in an Empty Room (03:15)
Dahlias and Rain (02:37)
I’d Rather Not Go Your Way (01:56)

Side C (DINKED EXCLUSIVE)

Never Said I Was Sorry Then (02:34)
Hummingbirds (03:19)
Holiday Cheer (02:56)
Randy, If You Were Here (02:34)
Public Fountains (02:37)

Side D (DINKED EXCLUSIVE)
Outer Avenues (02:37)
Sea Wall (02:43)
Mountain Lake Park (05:10)
Conservatory of Flowers (03:19)
Like A Ghost Warmed Over (02:48)
Midday Sun (04:05)

Dinked's version is a double disc gatefold with zine, the second disc containing music currently unavailable anywhere else - that's a lot of exclusive tracks! To our ears, the second disc contains some of the best work he's done too. A proper fan edition!

RIYL: Sarah Records, 90s 4AD, Blue Boy, The Clientele, early Belle & Sebastian, Felt, The Smiths

‘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.

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, 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.