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Cold War Kids are back with their 6th studio album, “L.A. Divine”
On their sixth album LA Divine, Cold War Kids pay tribute to Los Angeles and all its strange glory. The follow-up to 2014âs Hold My Homeâfeaturing the gold-certified single âFirstââthe bandâs latest is slightly tongue-in-cheek in its title. âIn many ways LA is the least divine city, the most hedonistic and irreverent and disconnected from history,â says Cold War Kids singer/guitarist/pianist Nathan Willett. Still, LA Divine embodies the Long Beach-bred bandâs endless fascination with their adopted hometown. âLAâs so massive, I feel like Iâm always finding something new in it,â says bassist Matt Maust. âItâs an incredibly weird place, and Iâm happy to have made a record that totally honors that weirdness.â
A feeling of infinite discovery instills much of LA Divine, the bandâs most expansive and ambitious effort so far. With Cold War Kids having recently marked the 10-year anniversary of their acclaimed debut Robbers & Cowards (a 2006 release that spawned their breakthrough single âHang Me Up to Dryâ), the album channels the kinetic energy of a newly revitalized band. âThe excitement I have about this new albumâit feels so much like the way I felt back when our first record came out,â notes Maust.
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For Cold War Kidsâwhose lineup also includes drummer Joe Plummer, multi-instrumentalist Matthew Schwartz, and guitarist David Quonâthat rejuvenation follows a creative rebirth of sorts. As Willett explains, the band took a more pop-informed and decidedly inventive approach to the making of LA Divine. âFrom the start of the band, our tastes have always been very backward-looking in terms of the tones and sounds and instrumentation weâre working with,â he says. âOn this album we wanted to embrace something more modern, because in many ways the most creative sounds happening right now are coming from the world of pop and out of that influence weâve ironically created what sounds like our most rock record yet ”
With its sonic palette inspired by everything from Frank Oceanâs Blonde to Florence & The Machine to Alabama Shakes, LA Divine merges that artful, hook-minded production with Cold War Kidsâ classic post-punk grit. And in his lyrics, Willett offers both raw vulnerability and layered complexity, bringing his heart-on-sleeve sensibilities to songs exploring long-lasting love. âSo many songs are about new love or about breakups, but I wanted to go deeper than that for this record,â he says. âWeâre older now and we have more life experience, and it felt right to have these songs about the beauty and the ugliness that comes with long-term relationships.â
Produced by their repeat collaborator Lars Stalfors (Health, Local Natives), LA Divine opens with lead single âLove Is Mysticalâ: a soulful, sweeping anthem about seeking transcendence and greater depth in love. âItâs a very LA thing but also just a very American thing: we think attraction is all about the physical, and we donât think so much about the spiritual or mysterious element of it,â says Willett. A more pensive meditation on enduring love, the slow-burning âRestlessâ brings sparse beats and ethereal textures to bracingly honest lyrics about âthe kind of relationship where youâre both always searching for something more,â according to Willett. And on âSo Tied Up,â British singer/songwriter Bishop Briggs lends her formidable vocals to a stomping, gospel-infused number that shines a light on everyday struggle (âLove is a twisted game and no one ever winsâ) but undeniably burns with the promise of hope.
Purchase the new album from Cold War Kids, “L.A. Divine” on iTunes or Amazon. Out on Friday, April 7th!
Befitting of an ode to Los Angeles, LA Divine also confronts the anxieties of aging and the toxic lure of reckless living. Urgent and unhinged, âLuck Downâ gives a blunt but loving picture of self-destruction (âI wonât lecture you on LexaproâŚYouâd rather medicate/With every pourâ). But while âCan We Hang On?â admits that âwe cannot stay forever young and out of our heads,â the songâs cascading guitar work and soaring harmonies make for subtly triumphant look at growing older and stumbling toward transformation.
Threaded throughout LA Divine are several brief interludes that uncover the better-hidden realities of life in Los Angeles. Hazy and distorted, âLA Riverâ captures a dreamlike desperation. With its lo-fi beats and jagged poetry, âWilshire Protestâ contemplates LAâs culture of isolation (âWe are separated by/Steel and glass/In traffic trapped on the freeway/Everybody is a DJâ). And with the fleeting piano ballad âCameras Always On,â Cold War Kids deliver a powerfully tender portrait of heartache in just 36 seconds (âI wanna be famous in your eyes but the cameraâs always onâ).
Based in LA for more than a decade, Cold War Kids formed in 2004, soon after Willett and Maust met in college and bonded over their obsession with the Blur album 13. After making their way through their homegrown Southern California scene, the band released Robbers & Cowards to major critical praise and much adoration from the mid-2000s blogosphere. The notably darker Loyalty To Loyalty followed two years later, while 2011âs Mine Is Yours introduced a more anthemic element to the Cold War Kids catalog. With 2013âs Dear Miss Lonelyhearts, the band returned to their fierce live sound and offered up their hit single âMiracle Mile.â In addition to yielding the smash hit âFirstâ (a track that shot to No. 1 on Billboardâs Alternative Songs chart, where it spent six weeks in the top spot), Hold My Home debuted at No. 8 on Billboardâs Top Alternative Albums chart and reached the top 20 of the Top Rock Albums chart.
On the heels of Hold My Home, Cold War Kids felt emboldened to bring a more deliberate, purposeful spirit to their music than ever before. âWith our last record doing so well, there was a feeling of wanting to challenge ourselves and create something culture-shaping and importantânot just for our fans, but for anyone who loves music,â says Willett. âWe wanted to open ourselves up and be real and vulnerable about who we are and what we want to say, and at the same time push for a certain greatness.â
Along with elevating Cold War Kidsâ songwriting on LA Divine, that ever-renewing sense of purpose continues to breathe new life into the band. âIâve seen a lot of bands get burnt out on their own songs after playing them for years, but for me thatâs not the case,â says Maust. âIâve been playing âHospital Bedsâ for 13 years, and it means something different to me now than it did when we first started. I donât know where that spark comes from, but I donât think I can stir it up on my own. You have to keep constantly showing upâand remember that this thing you created is really special, and youâve got to do whatever you can to keep it alive.â
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