Colourbox stood apart from their then-4AD labelmates – bands such as Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and This Mortal Coil (although the Young brothers contributed to tracks on the latter project's first two albums It'll End in Tears and Filigree & Shadow).
[1] A four-track mini-album simply titled Colourbox was released in November 1983, displaying the band's fledgling experimental sound.
[1] After a handful of singles, Colourbox's first full-length studio album — also self-titled — followed in August 1985, which further refined the band's diverse palette, mixing sample-splattered power-punk instrumentals with elegiac piano pieces ("Just Give 'em Whiskey" and "Sleepwalker" respectively), commercial pop ("The Moon Is Blue" and "Suspicion") and more reggae and soul covers (U-Roy's "Say You" and The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hanging On").
[10] For a brief time following Colourbox's dissolution, Martyn Young served as a producer on records by acts as diverse as The Christians and fellow labelmates The Wolfgang Press, whilst former singer Lorita Grahame lent her vocals to a record released by short-lived One Little Indian act Hit the Roof (on a cover of Edwin Starr's "Contact").
[13][14] The collection was reissued in 2017, with the addition of a double LP edition, in conjunction with Tillmans' exhibit at the Tate Modern in London.
[15] Martyn Young has been playing additional keyboards, recording, producing and mixing the new Modern English album, which was originally due for release in March 2016.