Colouring – Love To You, Mate review

In art it’s taken for granted that you might shift from one perspective to another, but some shifts are not so easy. Take Jack Kenworthy, AKA Colouring, who turned the one time band into a solo venture in 2019 and released Wake two years later. Modestly successful, it appeared to be the foundation of a new career arc, but then Kenworthy’s brother-in-law to be was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

It goes without saying after that moment that everything changed, not least a new necessity within his songwriting. ‘I’ve always been on the side of making up scenarios rather than being really honest about my life within my music..this is the first time I’ve been able to do that. I’ve been less scared of it because it’s not my story. It’s a shared one.’

The shared experience is the basis of Love To You, Mate, a record which is about friendship, trust, grieving and celebration. Sparse and minimal, emotions are never far from the surface on tracks like How’d It Get So Real and I Don’t Want To See You Like That, never more so than with This Light’s finale, which features a ghostly family singalong. Chief of the unexpected joys however are Lune’s monochrome soul and For Life, a eulogical rush of memories set to song that Guy Garvey would be proud of. Change is so hard sometimes it looks impossible, but Love To You, Mate proves Jack Kenworthy has those who matter’s back, still here or not.

You can read a full review here.