Album Notes

The instrumentation of 2002's Something Beautiful falls somewhere between a rock band and a Broadway musical: piano, vocals, fretless bass, drums (courtesy of the legendary Jonathan Moffett), string quartet, vibraphone, flute, and harp.

Color Theory is the musical alter ego of Huntington Beach singer-keyboardist-songwriter Brian Hazard. Hazard creates piano-driven electronic pop, combining sonic ingredients from Depeche Mode, The Postal Service, and Ben Folds in a fresh and compelling way. "Hazard writes songs that are intensely personal and uses technology to enhance material that is as emotive as the best folk." (Robert Kinsler, Orange County Register)

The Southern California based one-man band introduced itself to the world with the 1994 release of Sketches In Grey, followed by 1997's Tuesday Song, which includes the daringly non-fiction song Hazard performed as a marriage proposal to now-wife Michelle. The intimate and confessional Perfect Tears was in regular rotation at over 40 European commercial radio stations. 2001's Life’s Fairytale was the first Color Theory album to crack the CMJ RPM Top 20. The following year, Hazard received a grant from Jim Beam to record Something Beautiful, an all-acoustic set that could likely double as a Broadway musical.

In 2003, 11th Records released Color Theory presents Depeche Mode – a one-man tribute to Depeche Mode, complete with two new instrumental interludes. The album reinvents eleven of their most underappreciated songs, and also includes the track "Ponytail Girl", the Color Theory original that was mistakenly credited as a Depeche Mode track from their Exciter album.

Five years of sonic exploration culminate in the 2008 release of The Thought Chapter, which takes Color Theory's signature piano plus electronics style to a whole new level. The CD is packaged in a beautiful 6-panel Digipak with original drawings by Maya Klein, and features eleven new originals plus a Death Cab for Cutie classic.