Cold War Kids are looking within on their new self-titled album

For practically 20 years, Cold War Kids have made colossal indie rock that’s indebted to blues and soul. Now, the Long Beach band are not solely reaching towards different style poles, from the towering breadth of the Clash to the melodic grandeur of Oasis, however they’re additionally looking within. Toxic masculinity, gender roles, and taking the blame for selfishness all swirl round their new self-titled album, adopting a maturity and introspection that makes their blog-rock hit “Hang Me Up to Dry” really feel light-years away. To up the stakes, Cold War Kids additionally tried to problem themselves like by no means earlier than by working with a slew of various producers and collaborators — in flip shifting their sound and views into one thing wholly new.

Read extra: 20 biggest Rise Records bands

To have fun its launch, we caught up with frontman Nathan Willett to unpack the chemistry behind the band, album influences, and what he found about himself within the course of.

The report covers a whole lot of new terrain, like ’80s pop and dance music, whereas staying true to the blues and soul that’s been intrinsic to the band since your debut. What had been a few of your objectives going into the LP?    

An outdated buddy of mine simply texted me that he feels just like the album is our London Calling. That put the most important smile on my face. Because I do know what the Clash got down to do was put all their influences on the market. What I got down to do was put all the perimeters of Cold War Kids into one album. That means lyrically, stylistically, emotionally. So sure, I needed there to be the Pretenders, Black Crowes, the Clash, George Michael, Happy Mondays, the Jam, Peter Gabriel, Sam Cooke, Oasis, Bowie, Sly. A contact of every little thing we love. 

At this level within the band, provided that that is your tenth album and also you’re going on 20 years collectively, what’s modified about the way you talk your concepts to one another?

We began off extra collaborative. As is all the time the case with bands, a pacesetter has to emerge to maintain it going. I began taking the reins a couple of albums in. For this report, I introduced completely different band guys in at completely different factors the place I believed their strengths might be greatest put to make use of. We converse the identical language of artists and influences. It’s a colour palette we draw from. Maust is an encyclopedia of artwork and music, and simply having him within the room listening to a demo, he’ll toss out a dozen ideas about what it reminds him of or why it might be higher, and often one in all them is important to transferring the track ahead. 

You wrote that you simply tried out a shreddy guitar ending on “Another Name,” however went in one other course as soon as strings had been added. Can you inform me extra about that temper shift and why it was proper for the track?

Ethan works with Rob Moose rather a lot, and he requested if he ought to have him strive strings on the track. It was simply too excellent. The shreddy guitar was actually enjoyable additionally, however the emotion of this track wanted the strings. We had been listening to Fiona Apple’s “Carrion” from Tidal. The Jon Brion guitar solo is what we had been going for. Maybe we must always launch that model as properly sometime. 

You challenged your self to work with completely different producers and collaborators so you would take your sound to new locations. How did you join with Militarie Gun’s Max Epstein, and what do you admire about what he dropped at the report?

Max is my brother-in-law, and we are shut. During the pandemic, we might speak for hours about music. He’s like 10 years youthful than me, so I feel I connect with my youthful extra punk-rock mind. Less of the misunderstood tremendous artist, extra of the let’s get this job performed. We are all simply musicians making an attempt to get the place we need to be, and I’ve come a good distance and don’t have to be all the time looking greater and higher. I simply have to be me. 

Throughout the recording of this album, and even after the actual fact, what have you ever discovered about yourselves?

In songwriting, there’s a line between clear/self-effacing lyrics and this kind of punch line/cringey confessional type that’s sizzling proper now. I discovered that I must dig into myself to have the ability to sing these songs and discover how far to go earlier than saying an excessive amount of.