Last year, Tim Darcy, formerly of Ought and currently of Cola, was one of many musicians whose homes were destroyed in the LA wildfires. On Cola's new song "Conflagration Mindset," Darcy sings about robotically marching on while forces far beyond you have thrown your life into chaos: "A decent way to dress it up/ Cold beer in a hotel cup/ I’m alone, but I’ll gas the car/ In conflagration mindset."
This spring, Cola will release their new album C.O.L.A., or Cost Of Living Adjustment. We posted lead single "Hedgesitting," and now they've shared "Conflagration Mindset," a stark and bleary post-punk song about stark and bleary situations. Here's what Darcy says about it:
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 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.
Below, check out "Conflagration Mindset" and Cola's upcoming tour dates.
TOUR DATES:
7/08 - Toronto, ON @ Longboat Hall
7/09 - Detroit, MI @ Lager House
7/10 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
7/11 - Minneapolis, MN @ Zhora Darling
7/12 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
7/15 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
7/16 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
7/17 - Ridgewood, NY @ TV Eye
7/18 - New York, NY @ Night Club 101
7/19 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
7/21 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
7/22 - Portland, ME @ Oxbow
7/23 - Brattleboro, VT @ Stone Church
7/24 - Montreal, QC @ La Sala Rossa
10/28 - Paris, France @ Petit Bain
10/29 - Rotterdam, Netherlands @ Rotwown
10/30 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ London Calling (Paradiso)
10/31 - Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix
11/02 - Bristol, UK @ Strange Brew
11/03 - London, UK @ The Garage
11/04 - York, UK @ The Crescent
11/05 - Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
11/06 - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK @ Brave Exhibitions (The Cluny)
11/07 - Salford, UK @ The White Hotel
11/10 - Berlin, Germany @ Badehaus
11/11 - Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow
11/13 - Gothenburg, Sweden @ Oceanen
11/14 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Hus 7
11/16 - Malmo, Sweden @ Plan B
11/18 - Bredsten, Denmark @ Engelsholm Højskolel
Cost Of Living Adjustment is out 5/8 on Fire Talk.
