Colour Me Wednesday

Colour Me Wednesday are an English indie pop and pop punk group from Hillingdon, built around sisters Harriet Doveton and Jennifer Doveton. They are active from 2007 and work with a DIY punk approach, making their own recordings, artwork and promotional videos. Their music combines melodic guitar pop with politicised lyrics.

Formation and early recordings

The band forms in Uxbridge in 2007 and initially plays local gigs with changing line-ups. It settles as a permanent band in 2009 with Danny Gardner on bass and Sam Brackley on drums; Brackley had previously played bass, with Helen Meragi on drums. That year the group self-records and self-releases its debut CDr EP, What to do in an Emergency.

In 2010 and 2011, self-produced YouTube videos for tracks from the follow-up Sampler EP bring the group wider attention in DIY punk and indiepop circles.

Albums, singles and releases

In 2012, Carmela Pietrangelo of ¡Ay Carmela! joins as bassist. The band releases its debut single, “Shut”, as a digital download with an accompanying video, ahead of the album I Thought It Was Morning on Discount Horse Records. The album is self-recorded, includes new versions of earlier EP tracks, and features a collaboration with former King Blues keyboardist and solo artist Perkie. A promo video accompanies “(I’m Not Coming To Your) BBQ”.

The album is later reissued in Japan and Canada, and “Shut” is also issued on vinyl in Canada.

In 2014, Colour Me Wednesday releases a split album with Spoonboy on Lauren Records in California. A promotional video is made for the lead track “Sugar-Coated”. In 2016, the band releases Anyone and Everyone, its first recordings with new drummer Jaca Freer and guitarist Laura Ankles, both also of ¡Ay Carmela!. The EP appears on multiple formats in the UK, US, France and Japan, including as part of 2670 Records’ Incompatible compilation. It is supported by a UK and European tour and a video for “Don’t Tell Anyone”.

In 2017, the group releases an online version of Demi Lovato’s “Cool for the Summer”. Later that year, its debut album is reissued in Indonesia. In 2018, Colour Me Wednesday releases its second album, Counting Pennies in the Afterlife, produced by MJ of Hookworms. The album is previewed by “Sunriser”, and the previously released “Don’t Tell Anyone” appears again as a single with the new b-side “Blossom” on American Laundromat in the US.

Live activity and associations

Colour Me Wednesday plays Indietracks in 2012, 2013 and 2015. In 2014, the band tours the US and appears at Plan-It X festival and New York Popfest. It also plays Madrid Popfest. In 2017, the group tours with Lemuria.

The band also performs with Waxahatchee, Laura Stevenson, Kate Nash, Grace Petrie, Doe, LVL UP, the Homosexuals, Thee Faction and Josie Long.

Style and comparisons

Colour Me Wednesday is described alongside contemporary acts such as Lemuria and Waxahatchee, and compared with older indie groups including the Sundays, the Popguns, the Breeders and Blake Babies. Its lyrics are also linked with ONSIND and with earlier political new wave and indie bands such as the Clash, the Jam and the Housemartins.