The History of Colour TV

Originating in 2010, The History of Colour TV took shape in Berlin as a shoegaze group that musician Jaike Stambach first envisioned as a conceptual audio-visual endeavor. Several experimental cassette-only EPs, along with their matching videos, appeared under his solo direction before additional musicians joined to expand the dreamy, darkly textured pop songs. The initial collective outing arrived with 2011's Colour TV EP, which retained abrasive ambient textures drawn from Stambach's prior solo recordings yet adhered more closely to conventional song structures. A partnership with Texas-based indie Saint Marie Records followed, yielding the band's debut full-length, the densely layered Emerald Cures Chic Ills, in 2012. By June 2014 the ensemble returned with When Shapes of Spilt Blood Spelt Love, a record that pared the arrangements without diminishing their impact.