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Sep 22, 2022 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Megan Malone

Bend-Oregon-based indie rock outfit The Color Study originally began as the solo project for singer/songwriter Scott Oliphant in the lead up to his eponymous debut record, The Color Study. Since then, the band has expanded with the addition of a range of collaborators and a new heady existential bent on their forthcoming sophomore album, Future-Past-Present Tense. The band have teased the record this year with its lead single and title track, and today they’re back with a new single, “I Wanted Light / Between,” premiering with Under the Radar.

“I Wanted Light / Between” shows off all of what The Color Study does best, weaving a rich instrumental mix that proves irresistible. There are hints of Spiritualized’s acid-fried fusion of rock and soul at play, or of Wilco’s more ambitious and layered arrangements, but Oliphant’s songwriting shines bright all on its own.

The track shows off a loose and vital flair, with rollicking rhythms and piercing bursts of brass, but also incorporates an ambitious song structure. The band moves between tense acoustic rave-ups and storming full-band moments, steadily building into an electrifying jam session in the latter half and then subsiding into a gorgeous instrumental interlude.

Oliphant explains of the track, “When I was writing the record I kept thinking about the strangeness of how our lives weave in and out and around each other, strangers that we begin as and then become again. Wanting to believe in light and love and not knowing how it’ll end. That’s what this song is about.

I really love the sax and trumpet on this song. The instrumental interlude at the end, “between”, is one of my favorite parts of the album and something I’m really proud of compositionally. I wanted to kind of try and express that feeling of losing love abruptly. It also serves as a pivotal part in the album sequence from side A to B, where the overall tone shifts slightly leading up to the album finish.”

Check out the song below. Future-Past-Present Tense is due out later this year.