Paint A Room marks the California songwriter’s first album to release through Sub Pop sister imprint Hardly Art.
Chris Cohen has announced the release of a new album.
Paint A Room is scheduled for arrival on July 12th and follows on from 2019’s widely praised eponymous Chris Cohen, marking the Los Angeles singer-songwriter and Deerhoof alumni’s fourth full-length solo album to date and first to release through Sub Pop sister imprint Hardly Art. Signalling a departure from the solitary creative process that yielded his prior solo works, for his latest endeavour Cohen instead favoured a collaborative approach employing the accompaniment of bandmates Davin Givhan, Josh da Costa and Jay Israelson to build upon his initial ideas within an ensemble configuration. Further to the credentials of his longstanding live cohorts Paint A Room also sees the pastoral and psychedelic-hued song craft of Cohen emboldened by brass and woodwind arrangements from Josh Johnson and Tortoise’s Jeff Parker.
Of the album’s newly premiered and languorous opening statement ‘Damage’ Cohen explains
“Trying to make something beautiful as a way to think through a problem, I wrote this song to consider the many forms state violence takes, and the subtly pervasive habit of denying another person’s humanity. We’re told that police, prisons, and the military are necessary to ensure peace, but like many people, I’ve come to see that it’s actually the opposite. This song certainly applies to P@lest|ne too. I struggled to find what I thought were the right words, to say something that might be hard for some of us to hear. This is my best attempt for now – my version of an abolitionist pop song.”
Hear ‘Damage’ and view the track list for Paint A Room below.
Paint A Room
1 ‘Damage’
2 ‘Paint a Room’
3 ‘Sunever’
4 ‘Cobb Estate’
5 ‘Laughing’
6 ‘Wishing Well’
7 ‘Dog’s Face’
8 ‘Night or Day’
9 ‘Physical Address’
10 ‘Randy’s Chimes’
Paint A Room releases on July 12th via Hardly Art. Pre-order the album on vinyl here.
Words by Sam Wilkinson.
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Fruit and Grooves Collective 