Cola Return With New Single, "Bitter Melon," & EU Tour

In 2022, Cola (a project from former Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy and US Girls/The Weather Station drummer Evan Cartwright), released their debut LP Deep In View on Fire Talk Records. Earning 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 album was one of the year's most acclaimed debuts.

2023 saw the release of a deluxe edition of their debut, and the release a track called "Keys Down If You Stay," a live staple that hinted at a new direction for the band.

Today, Cola are returning with a new single, "Bitter Melon," out now on Fire Talk.

Listen to Cola's "Bitter Melon"

Looser, and more exploratory than their debut, "Bitter Melon" shifts down into a hypnotic gear of repetition and polyrhythmic guitar fingering that evokes the more mystical side of krautrock or kosmische. It provides an intriguing suggestion of where the band might take the sound that was so lauded on their debut, maintaining their edge while giving themselves a little more room to breath.

Darcy says of the track:

"This one started with a demo brought in by Ben. The vocals and lyrics came naturally from the backlit, brooding atmosphere of the music. I wrote what was almost a piece of fiction (fleshed out in the accompanying zine we've released) where a person is up in the middle of the night studying 'the gloss'--additional comments written in the margins of a book. In my mind the text was like the rind of a fruit surrounding something, maybe even written at an earlier point by the reader themselves. The motorik drums and chiming guitars are guided by the bass on this song, something not unusual for us but the bass really provides a compelling longform melody on this song. The track has the energy of a full moon or some kind of fertile dark / gaia-facing productive spirit to me."

The single has been released as a flexi disc, and is accompanied by a zine that can be found in independent record stores world wide.

Cola Tour Dates

Wed. May 8th - Hanover, DE @ Cafe Glocksee

Thu. May 9th - Rotterdam, NL @ V11

Fri. May 10th - Eindhoven, NL @ Altstadt

Sat. May 11th - Luxembourg @ Out Of The Crowd Festival

Mon. May 13th - Ramsgate, UK @ Ramsgate Music Hall

Tue. May 14th - Birkenhead, UK @ Future Yard

Wed. May 15th - Cardiff, UK @ CLWB IFOR BACH

Fri. May 17th - London, UK @ The George Tavern

Sati. May 18th - London, UK @ The George Tavern