Stay Focused – Colourless

When you’ve been playing together since 2008 and you’ve worn out two band names and seven band members, sometimes you have to be your motivational coach: “Stay Focused” from Limburg an der Lahn (Hesse) tells the story of three musical friends who, despite the hurdles of growing up, didn’t let themselves be deterred from keeping their eyes on a common goal: To make modern and varied music that tries to unite opposites such as loud and quiet or spherical and heavy in a harmonious whole. Since its founding in 2015, “Stay Focused” has been playing on the big and small stages in Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Thuringia, and Saxony (and in one case also in beautiful Rome). In January 2018, the debut album “Contrasts” was released and the follow-up album “Values” will see the light of day in January 2024.

Stay Focused delivers the logical next step with their second album, “Values”. The three musicians and their songs have matured in recent years, but the genre boundaries are still fluid. The post-emo vibes keep erupting to metal, hardcore, post-rock, and more. The focus is on playful melodies and emotional lyrics about grief, loss, nostalgia and joy. Fabio (Git/Vox), Juli (Bass/Shouts) and Murch (Drums) have one thing in common: their human and musical diversity! And you can hear and see it (live)!“

“Colourless” deals with how we react when other people demand everything from us and we are even willing to give up ourselves for others. Losing oneself and lying to oneself.

In particular, however, it is also about how to resist this process and find a positive way out. The message of the band becomes quite clear: When listening, we are confronted with mental health topics that many have probably already had to deal with. Stay Focused make it clear that they don’t leave us alone and give us the feeling of being understood. Musically, “Colourless” is very different from the last released, melancholic, gloomy single “Cope”. In contrast to the heaviness of the previous release, Colourless plays with different musical motifs that qualify it as a pure pop-punk anthem. In the second half of the song, we get to hear the @lorain_music teased in the video as a feature, which underlines the theme of the song once again.

The combination of an almost cheerful and motivating beginning with a melancholic bridge, which then ends in driving and for the band characteristically emotional finale, distinguishes “Colourless” as a special title on the album “Values”. A playful, melodic bass plays a special role, in which runs and arpeggios alternate in the intro and verse with a warm carpet of sound in the emotional part of the song. Accompanied by the open chords and runs of the guitar and restrained drum structures in the verse, Colourless offers a great change from the otherwise predictable everyday music routine. Just as the mood and emotionality increase throughout the song, the drums also become more sophisticated and provide a rhythmically very interesting foundation with technical skill, which fits perfectly into the different dynamics of the song and produces accents and intensifications in exactly the right places, which transport the listener again and again from one unique part to the next. The band’s third video was also directed by @svenintveen, who plays visually with colors, lighting, and projections in keeping with the song’s content.

Listen to this song and more emerging artists just like this one on Channel R Rising, playing Mon-Sat at 5pm PT/8pm ET and Sundays at 10 am PT/1 pm ET on Channel R – Today’s Hits & Your All-Time Favorites.