Last month Cola, the band formed by ex-Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy, and drummer Evan Cartwright, announced their sophomore LP The Gloss (due out June 14th on Fire Talk and Next Door Records in Canada). The album is the follow up to their 2022 Deep In View on Fire Talk Records, an album that saw praise from outlets like Pitchfork, NPR, FADER, Stereogum, Uproxx, Paste, BrooklynVegan, Consequence, Clash, NME and Rolling Stone who named the band an Artist You Need To Know and called their debut "one of the year’s most thrilling rock statements."
The new album was announced with a single called 'Pallor Tricks,' and today the band are sharing another preview of their new LP, a track entitled "Albatross."
While a degree of compact minimalism is a hallmark of the band's sound, the tracks that have been heard from Cola's new LP have shown a more discursive bent than their first album. The songs have more parts and more variations, and a tendency to blend an undercurrent of simmering urgency with oblique rhythms and changes of pace. 'Albatross' is no exception, maintaining a forward momentum redolent of the race horses featured in Darcy's lyrics, but with a contemplative element worked into the band's spacious arrangements.
Darcy says of the track:
"This song had a few lives before it took its final form. We played a much faster version on some later Deep in View tours with different lyrics. When we eventually got to the studio we revisited Ben's original demo and decided to slow it down and re-introduce a heavier feeling.
I then had a spark of inspiration and completely rewrote the lyrics, which center around "an albatross"--something that greatly hinders accomplishment. From there I started thinking about a horse race and perhaps some trainer watching a slow motion replay to try identify what's wrong with an animal's stride, hence the chorus."
The band's touring in support of their new LP will begin next week in Europe. Full details on UK tour can be found below
Tour Dates
- 8th May | Hanover, DE – Cafe Glocksee
- 9th May | Rotterdam, NL – Vessell 11
- 10th May | Eindhoven, NL – Altstadt
- 11th May | Luxembourg – Out of the Crowd Festival
- 13th May | Ramsgate, UK – Ramsgate Music Hall
- 14th May | Birkenhead, UK – Future Yard
- 15th May | Cardiff, UK – Clwb Ifor Bach
- 16th May | London, UK – The Garage – Medical Aid for Palestinians Benefit Show w/ Shame + PVA
- 17th May | London, UK – The George Tavern
- 18th May | London, UK – The George Tavern
- 5th July | Toronto, ON – The Garrison ^
- 6th July | Cleveland, OH – Mahall's ^
- 7th July | Detroit, MI – Lager House ^
- 8th July | Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle ^
- 11th July | Nashville, TN – Third Man Records ^
- 12th July | Atlanta, GA – 529 ^
- 13th July | Asheville, NC – Eulogy &
- 15th July | Washington, DC – Songbyrd +
- 16th July | Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda's +
- 17th July | New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom +
- 18th July | Troy, NY – No Fun +
- 19th July | Boston, MA – The Rockwell +
- 20th July | Montreal, QC – Theatre Fairmount +
- 26th July | Teulon, MB – Real Love Summer Festival
- 10th Oct | San Diego, CA – Soda Bar *
- 11th Oct | Los Angeles, CA – Zebulon *
- 12th Oct | San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill *
- 14th Oct | Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios *
- 16th Oct | Vancouver, BC – Wise Hall
- 17th Oct | Seattle, WA – Madame Lou's *
- 11th Nov | Maastricht, Netherlands – Muziekgieterij
- 12th Nov | Paris, France – Supersonic
- 13th Nov | Utrecht, Netherlands – Ekko
- 14th Nov | Groningen, Netherlands – Vera
- 16 Nov | Berlin, Germany – Hole44 (supporting METZ)
- 17th Nov | Hamburg, Germany – Aalhaus
- 19th Nov | Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club
- 20th Nov | Glasgow, UK – Broadcast
- 21st Nov | Dublin, IR – The Workman's Club
- 22nd Nov | Manchester, UK – YES (The Pink Room)
+ = w/ Mhaol
* = w/ Mind Shrine
^ = w/ Devon Welsh