Cola Present New Single/Video & Announce UK/EU/US Tour | New Album Out May 8th via Fire Talk

Cola is the Montreal trio of Tim Darcy (vocals/guitar), Ben Stidworthy (bass), and Evan Cartwright (drums). Today, Cola unveil their new single/video, “Conflagration Mindset,” from their forthcoming album, Cost of Living Adjustment (out May 8th via Fire Talk Records), and unveil 2026 headlining tour dates. In support of Cost of Living Adjustment — Cola’s take on a self-titled album — the trio will perform across the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe,. A full list of tour dates are below, with tickets on sale Friday at 10am local time.

Cost of Living Adjustment is an abstract record full of clarifying moments: where a whole swirl of feelings become so clear that it almost hurts a little bit. “Make room for sorrow, it’ll make room for you,” Darcy sings at the top of Cost of Living Adjustment’s third-act opus, “Conflagration Mindset.” Written in the aftermath of the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, “Conflagration Mindset” is a stunning revelation unlike anything else across Cola’s discography. Beginning with whirring synths and Cartwright’s filtered percussion, “Conflagration Mindset” swells alongside Stidworthy’s meditative bassline and Darcy’s existential musings. “Cold beer in a hotel cup // I’m alone but I’ll gas the car // in conflagration mindset.”

“Conflagration Mindset” follows Cost of Living Adjustment’s lead single, “Hedgesitting,” which collected praise from DIY, NME, Brooklyn Vegan, Stereogum and more. “Conflagration Mindset” is presented alongside a striking lyric video.

Of “Conflagration Mindset,” Cola add: “This track began as a wintry-cold synth and drum machine exploration that Evan sent around. Ben and I were hanging out at his apartment and were immediately taken with it and started messing around with finding ways to play aspects of his synth part on bass and guitar, a fun challenge we continued to explore even in the studio as we played with blending the synthetic and live versions of the track.

Most of the lyrics on this track were written after I (Tim) experienced a house fire during the wildfires in LA last year. The phrase ‘Conflagration Mindset’ became a jumping off point for one of the more personal songs on this record, though I certainly pulled from an array of experiences. When you go through something like that, people come out of the woodwork and share their stories with you. I learned a lot about house fires in general and the way they can reshape lives and whole communities. Because of that it's really a song about the nature of loss in general.”

Watch Cola's "Conflagration Mindset" Lyric Video

C.O.L.A. is sort of a self-titled album. It’s an acronym for Cost of Living Adjustment, a fitting conceptual framework for the band’s third record. Why? Because C.O.L.A. considers, among other things, socialism vs. hell. It considers: rolling the dice of life. The eerie and sweet pangs that nostalgia can provoke. This is not new territory for band members Tim Darcy, Evan Cartwright, and Ben Stidworthy. It is, in Cartwright’s words “a deepening of what we’ve been doing.” C.O.L.A. is an intricate, beautiful, and sometimes strange record. It is the band’s most refined offering. A perfection of carefully honed aesthetic impulses.

One of the goals with C.O.L.A. was to have the melody guide the lyrics. This is a distinct shift from the sprechgesang that has been an anchor for many of Darcy’s earlier records. Here, the vocal melodies are on the same level as all of the other melodies on the record. But the lyrics are no less poetic, no less precise than anything Darcy has written before (“It’s not,” he jokes, “like we’re making a Cocteau Twins song.”) The result is a record that is ruthlessly aware of all of its parts, and treats them all as equally important. C.O.L.A. is a record that speaks to itself: where all of its parts are in direct conversation with each other. Sounds do not blur, even when they are expansive. It is abstract, oblique, sometimes strange, whatever you want to call it. But it is also beautiful, in the classic sense. Beautiful like a painting can be beautiful. Really, really gorgeous. Almost chiseled in the way it plays so deliberately with experimentation.It is Cola, the band, at their very best.

Pre-Order 'Cost of Living Adjustment' Watch the "Hedgesitting" Video

Cola Tour Dates

• Wed. July 8 - Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall
• Thu. July 9 - Detroit, MI @ Lager House
• Fri. July 10 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
• Sat. July 11 - Minneapolis, MN @ Zhora Darling
• Sun. July 12 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
• Wed. July 15 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
• Thu. July 16 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
• Fri. July 17 - Ridgewood, NY @ TV Eye
• Sat. July 18 - New York, NY @ Night Club 101
• Sun. July 19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
• Tue. July 21 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
• Wed. July 22 - Portland, ME @ Oxbow
• Thu. July 23 - Brattleboro, VT @ Stone Church
• Fri. July 24 - Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
• Wed. Oct. 28 - Paris, FR @ Petit Bain
• Thu. Oct. 29 - Rotterdam, NL @ Rotwown
• Fri. Oct. 30 - Amsterdam, NL @ London Calling (Paradiso)
• Sat. Oct. 31 - Antwerp, BE @ Trix
• Mon. Nov. 2 - Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
• Tue. Nov. 3 - London, UK @ The Garage
• Wed. Nov. 4 - York, UK @ The Crescent
• Thu. Nov. 5 - Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
• Fri. Nov. 6 - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ Brave Exhibitions (The Cluny)
• Sat. Nov. 7 - Salford, UK @ The White Hotel
• Tue. Nov. 10- Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
• Wed. Nov. 11 - Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
• Fri. Nov. 13- Gothenburg, SE @ Oceanen
• Sat. Nov. 14 - Stockholm, SE @ Hus 7
• Mon. Nov. 16 - Malmo, SE @ Plan B
• Wed. Nov. 18 - Bredsten, DE @ Engelsholm Højskolel