“On The Verge is a great piece of work... Polly and David have a clear connection that allows them to not only write great songs, but also deliver them with skill and empathy. Jangle folk is on the map."

Stuart Green, FATEA Magazine 

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'False Colours' are an award-winning duo (otherwise known as Polly and David) performing their own unique and intricate style of uplifting, 'happy/sad', rhythmic, indie, jangle folk music. Based in East Anglia, the pair have become known throughout the live music scene of the south east of England for their highly entertaining, and often unexpected, live jangle folk show, playing many of the regions best festivals- from Broadstairs Folk Week to FolkEast, and (almost) everywhere in between.

 

Their inventive and ear worm-inducing songwriting combines traditional open and fresh sounding folk style tunes, with a tenor guitar sound which is reminiscent of 1960’s jangle pop- which David plays both harmonically and melodically, but probably also rhythmically, at the same time as providing a percussive drive with a nice, not too big, bass drum. When combined with Polly’s "beautiful voice," warm and characterful bass-lines and the never ending vocal harmonies in their interesting but well blended singing styles, the thoughtful lyrics come to life with an original, unexpected sound that is sure to captivate, welcome, divert and uplift the listener.

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In 2023, after five years of planning, writing, learning, recording and then ripping it all up and starting again, False Colours finally released their second EP- "On The Verge" to widespread (relatively speaking) acclaim... (but seriously, it's really, really good, and we're very stern critics- it's been played on radio stations all over the place- from the BBC to your local station!), with the help of long time friend and collaborator, the Surrey based, born and bred multi-instrumentalist Dominic Mackie, who mucked in on mandola, banjo and boring old six string (otherwise known as the...) guitar, and now... just occasionally... joins the spectaculiar False Colours bandwagon and live show to make this five-piece duo an eight piece trio! Huzzah!

 

All in all 2023 turned out to be a good year for False Colours. As well as the EP release and East Anglian tour, it was the year they crossed the pond/thames and finally broke Kent, with performances at Broadstairs Folk Week on the Queens Road Baptist Church Stage supporting the truly mindblowing Urban Folk Quartet and the awesome and up-and-coming Chickenstock festival combined with a well planned trip to Ikea Lakeside.

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“I think this is my top song for 2018 [Make Yourself a Sandwich] ... I spent a good two hours yesterday just watching everything  [False Colours content] online and listening to the EP and I’m a fan! I love folk music and feel like this is great. These are great artists and I’m all in!”

Angelle Joseph, Presenter, BBC Introducing in Suffolk (speaking live on air on the Boxing Day Special 2018)

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Historically speaking, the duo began performing together in 2018 and in their first couple of months were booked to perform at the coveted FolkEast Festival- their spiritual home (and a place they have now performed many times). Being determined not to pass up the opportunity to make a good impression, they recorded, mixed and mastered their first EP ‘Here’s Something’ live in one day and released it that summer. This EP came to the attention of BBC Introducing and has received regular airplay since -as well as becoming a popular hit for listeners of Cambridge 105 Radio, where the title track ‘Here’s Something’ held a position in the Unsigned Chart for twenty weeks.

 

2019 saw False Colours support Miranda Sykes (Show of Hands) at Ely Folk as well as being rebooked for FolkEast in another full summer programme of festivals.

 

“Unique and captivating.”

Amy Wragg, Get on the Soapbox

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What our audiences say:

"It's rare that I recommend any band but what I find so wonderful about Polly and Dave is that they are truly unique in what they do. This is real original music played and sung from the heart and mind and delivered with a huge amount of charm and warmth. I would book them any day."
Dan Fraser

"Superb! I highly recommend checking this talented pair out. They were my favourite part of LeeStock. I loved the humour, great songs and the overall sound was superb."
Becky Louise

"Quality duo. Such a full sound. Lovely harmonies and refreshingly unique."
Jonny Day

"Individually talented but put them together - wow, what a fantastic sound. Wonderful harmonies."
Arthur Dalgleish

"One of the best bands on the folk scene today."
David's Mum

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Reviews:

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GIG REVIEW 

FALSE COLOURS

THREE WISE MONKEYS, COLCHESTER 

2-5-24

 

You just don't see False Colours in Colchester very often, so the chance to catch them at a local evening promoted by Clacton Arts Centre was impossible to resist. Set up in the noisy downstairs bar of Colchester's Three Wise Monkeys, they were in for a bit of a battle. It was clearly a bar full of people confronted with live music rather than a room of gig goers intent on digesting original sounds but False Colours had the nous to pull it off. They know how to make friends with a crowd. 

 

To the uninitiated (where have you been?),  False Colours are Sudbury's very own modern folk duo with David Owen on 4-string tenor guitar and bass drum and Polly Keyton on electric double bass. They both sing. It's an unusual set up but they are as slick as a lubed eel and no mistaking. With lovely pastoral harmonies, they start with 'Here's Something', a folk song from 1600. Not really, it's there's but it's so timeless it may have been birthed in Elizabethan England. "Polly has such a lovely voice" David quips. "Everyone points it out!" It's a comment on the difference in their vocal styles. 'The Road' follows. From the latest EP, this song really defines their modern British folk sound: light in touch, jangly, open chord tunings and raw, genuinely unaffected vocals.  Polly's bass playing is solid as a nut which is not easy to achieve on an unfretted instrument and no percussion to drive things on. Things take a darker turn with the 5/4 rhythm of 'The Storm'. FC sing sadly of modern strife but resolve into a glorious major harmony in the chorus to break up the tension. It's sweet and sour; still and sparkling. In a superb example of squeezing a good melody out of three chords, 'Feeling Low' is a total cracker and Polly's sublime sense of rhythm really keeps the number rolling on. 'An Englishman's Castle' was written about their experience of being evicted and thank the gods they were: the song is an absolute blinder, a real highlight of the set. "The next song is about having arguments with people who are never wrong". Polly introduces their newest addition to the set 'Common Ground' and proceeds to deliver a speech on being the victim of everyone's lies. "Your idea of compromise is that I apologise when you are wrong." A great new song with a compelling, singalong chorus. Their set ends with the forward looking 'Horizon', the closer on their latest EP. Polly switches to simply singing vocals. It's nice to hear a song in praise of maps and that, and such detail is SO False Colours. 

 

The duo pulled off a great performance despite an almost equal ratio of musical jangle folk to crowd noise. They won any newbies over with their gentle, self depreciating humour and the sheer excellence of their songwriting. The evening also confirms how professional they are. They're is seemingly no divide between live and recorded sound (barring the enforced starker instrumentation), a summit not easily reached in live performance. Polly's divine fairybell vocals are pitch perfect and set off the deeper, richness of David's baritone. It's a marriage of sky and earth, nodding to the past and reaching for a new world of 21st century folk. Simply beautiful.

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Litter of Kings​

 

EP REVIEW 

FALSE COLOURS

'ON THE VERGE'

 

It's been five years since Long Melford's False Colours released their debut EP 'Here's Something' and bassist Polly Keyton and guitarist David Owen have once again served up an invigoratingly warm set of throughly enjoyable pop-folk songs. The five songs are linked around the themes of independence and coming of age in a world too paranoid to let you just be. It's about flying the nest, the cost of rent and the importance of being connected to something bigger than yourself. “'On the Verge' relates to roads and paths David and I have taken and all of the songs relate to journeys in one way or another," Polly tells us. 

 

'The Road' is a snappy opening. The roads that we take subtly define our future and the initial choosing is a daunting task. "I fear that I may tread this path alone," David sings. "At some point we may lose our way home" but he's not alone as Polly can "picture (him) in her mind." The couple work together to figure it out and their pasts (and each other) are always a secure point to return to. 

'The Willow Tree Song' seems like a song searching for a better title perhaps. David: "It's written from the perspective of a tree, imagining what a grand old willow would think about our somewhat unnecessary flitting about and wasting of time." Are we, like the willow, "rooted in one place" or can we grow and retain our true inner self? Either way, there's no escaping the changes time brings. 

The housing crisis (including Polly and David's very own) is dealt with in 'An Englishman's Castle', for my money the most memorable of the tracks given its fantastic earwormy chorus. Question time: Are we only really happy when we can say our house is our own? The Colours believe we are and the chorus is a rousing singalong for the dispossessed: "We pay through the nose for a house we don't own, 'cause live here we must - but it can never be home."

As would be expected, a dissonant feel surrounds the next track, 'The Storm' and the chords dish up the only dark(ish) song on the EP. The song feels lumpy until you catch on to the fact that there are 5 beats to the bar. Polly explains the remit: "It's about making the decision to change, even if it’s going to be hard". 'The Storm' is not an easy rhythm and you won't be dancing unless you're a very wonky donkey.

Tailing the EP off is recent single 'Horizon'. It's unfolding maps, distant places and yearning to visit dreamed of, unknown territory. A beautiful ending to the project. "Don't wait because time will pass you by if you keep waiting for the perfect moment." It's a sobering end to a glorious set of songs.  

The EP is peppered with twittering birds and cars passing by the hedgerows of the Suffolk countryside road and these weather sounds lead us from track to track; it's calmly cinematic. 

 

The future can only be a positive one for such a professional and talented duo. Unafraid to sing about things as they really are, their honesty is both endearing and gently enlightening and 'On The Verge' bring them even closer to our hearts. They produce beautifully playful music that immediately appeals and their charming interplay glows when they perform. So do yourself a favour and give this a listen. It'll really brighten your day.

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Litter of Kings