"Down Colorful Hill" is the debut studio album by the American band Red House Painters, released in 1992 by 4AD. The album is known for its introspective and melancholic sound, characteristic of the band's early work. It features a blend of slowcore and alternative rock, with a focus on atmospheric and emotive songwriting. Down Colorful Hill helped establish Red House Painters as a significant act in the alternative music scene of the early 1990s.
Down Colorful Hill is notable for being made up of demos that were slightly remixed for its general release, following a practice seen with the debut albums of other 4AD artists such as Pixies, Lush, and His Name Is Alive. In Martin Aston's book Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD, Mark Kozelek, the band's lead vocalist, expressed regret over the heavy use of reverb and echo in the album's mixing. The track "Waterkill," which originated from the same recording sessions but was not included on the album, later appeared on the compilation Retrospective in its un-remixed form, offering a glimpse of the rawer sound of the original demos.
The music video for the song "24" was produced and directed by Mark Taylor.
The cover artwork for Down Colorful Hill was created by Welsh photographer Simon Larbalestier and is titled "Bed."
