Audiopile Review: Glenn Donaldson, the hardest working man in DIY indie rock, gifts us a new album under his beloved Reds, Pinks And Purples guise, his first of the year and likely not his last. For fans of Donaldson’s prolific project (8 full lengths in 5 years, plus a handful of EPs and singles!) each album fits like a well-worn sweater, that one with all the holes, split seams and stretched out neck that you’ll never get rid of. You know exactly how it’s gonna feel before you even put it on. The same thread that runs from the jangle of bands like Felt or any number of Sarah Records’, and through to the sincere warmth of early Magnetic Fields is still evident, each album intimately connected to the last. Donaldson’s half-sung, half-spoken vocals and direct lyrics have always given these records their distinct feel, and he’s particularly on point here. His usual observational lyrics of the daily mundane are still spot-on, but songs like “Public Art” and “Your Worst Song Is Your Greatest Hit” bring a humorous edge to what could be perceived as overly self-serious indie-pop. Another winner from Donaldson.

Crystalizing the tragic self-celebrating kingdoms of fortunate failures, false heroes, music press deities of limitless deceit, hometown dive gods and humanity in the grips of all its romanticized wonder and woe — DIY pop titans The Reds, Pinks & Purples take aim at the threads of hope with untethered abandon on their new album “Unwishing Well.” Spanning 10 gem-like tunes, it’s yet another exhibition of Glenn Donaldson’s flawless mastery of intimate – yet expansive – downcast pop.

Over the course of the last five years The Reds, Pinks & Purples have released six albums, several EPs and countless singles, all dedicated to breathing fresh life into the cerebral, leftfield pop that animated the gloomy teens, college radio DJs and record store clerks of the 80s and 90s. Such touchstones as The Go-Betweens, The Smiths, Magnetic Fields, Felt and more are obvious inspirations, but Donaldson’s prolific, prodigious talent for mood and melody have virtually created their own genre, and “Unwishing Well” is its purest embodiment yet.