Local Roots

3 Aug 2018

Single Review – Nik Navy – Colour Me

Single Review – Nik Navy’s Colour Me

Reviewer – Tristan Winter

Team. I’ve had another encounter with an angel. And I think I’m in love. He doesn’t know I exist, but when I was listening to his new single it felt like he was speaking directly to me. Maybe I should go back to therapy? Or maybe its true love? I think the latter.

The artist is Melbourne Musician NIK NAVY and the song is his new single Colour Me which reflects on being a gay man during the Australian marriage plebiscite last year. As we are all aware this was a time of great fear and confusion as our government let the public vote on whether or not it was alright for us to love openly. In Colour Me he looks to the future for a future of hope and acceptance for the LGBTQI+ community. He sings “You think that I am greedy just for wanting to be happy. Maybe you shouldn’t care.” He manages to capture the anxiety and deep sadness of this time as our government forced us to get in a fighting ring with the people that hate us the most and then allowed them to openly exercise their hate, but NAVY also manages to portray the hope and the infinite love we have in our community. He states “I wanted to write a track that was an honest interpretation of what it means to be a gay man in Australia in 2018. Writing the lyrics was deeply cathartic experience, helping me make sense of the toxic environment that the plebiscite created, and the pain remained afterwards”

Originally a child of the theatre, NAVY has traded in his Shakespeare boots and Iambic Pentameter for his piano and synthesisers instead. His first single Two Ways is a gentle, heart felt song that is very easy to listen to. So Colour Me serves as a killer follow up track that is still very easy to listen to because of the sound and his beautiful vocals. Listening to these 2 songs I am reminded of SOHN. The voice and the sound reminds me of his debut album Tremors, which was full of synthesisers, piano and all round gorgeous lyrics.

The official Single Lunch will be on August 23 at the Loop Project Space and Bar – Melbourne and he will be playing new material he has been working on for the last year which is super exciting! The video clip will be released shortly afterwards!