The Reds, Pinks and Purples release their new album, Acknowledge Kindness on April 24. The 11 tracks illuminate the life of prolific songwriter Glenn Donaldson in an emotional amalgamation of past, present and possible futures .
Today he shares the final pre-release single “Houses” about which Donaldson comments, “This song is atypical for me in that it’s in 6/8 time and also because it’s not directly about people. It’s about the places in-between houses, where plants grow and objects accumulate. They maybe have a life too. My friend Steven R. Smith plays the baritone guitar in the left channel, and the video is by Katiana Mashikian, who plays bass in The Reds, Pinks & Purples live band and is a member of April Magazine.”
Acknowledge Kindness is created from a new headspace, a more assured plateau where Donaldson observes both the present and the weight of what came before it. Songs feel rooted in a deeper and more active sense of nostalgia as Donaldson leans into that instinct throughout the record, allowing himself to look back with intent, to sift through old feelings, and to revisit moments that once carried a sting.
“This album is probably about learning to live with your ghosts and trying to be alive in the present. There’s a certain kind of big sounding record I aspire to make, like California by American Music Club or 16-Lover’s Lane by The Go-Betweens, works that steer into the pain but become a transportational device for the listener.” Donaldson Comments
Inspired by old journals, poetry, devastating records, and stoned walks through the park, Donaldson makes beautifully bruised indie pop for fans of The Go-Betweens, The Cure, and The Smiths, turning quiet moments into luminous worlds of feeling. The chiming guitars across the album turn heavy memories into something hopeful, unfolding a world that’s nostalgic, intimate, and quietly expansive.
This record evolves naturally from the heavier, melancholic tones of previous releases, but here the mood feels more exposed and reflective, blossoming into lush dreamscapes. Donaldson’s vocals are captured in high fidelity, raw and immediate, and the lyrical abstraction that haunts the record is underpinned by chiming acoustic guitars and achingly beautiful piano that seem to echo the act of remembrance itself.
“I worked on this record for eight months, trying to get the arrangements just right while keeping the feelings at the core of it; it became a stream of consciousness, inspired by pulling out terrible old journals, reading poetry paperbacks, listening to devastating records, walking through the park getting stoned while staring at flowers, and just trying to take it over the top in general.”
Acknowledge Kindness expands The Reds, Pinks and Purples’ emotional and sonic panorama. Donaldson’s ongoing world-building in songs and images is both warmly nostalgic and strikingly original.
“Donaldson’s undeniable homage is exquisitely on the nose, one comforting swoon after another” MOJO
“Another band that could be our life.” Louder Than War
