THE COLD AND LOVELY
All music and lyrics by Meghan Toohey
Produced and Engineered by Meghan Toohey
Released September 24, 2013
THE COLD AND LOVELY:
Meghan Toohey: Lead vocals, backing vocals, guitars, keyboards, drums and drum programming
Nicole Fiorentino: Bass Guitar, backing vocals
Patty Schemel: Drums and percussion
with Melineh Kurdian and John O'Reilly Jr.
Before the music of 2014 fully arrives and charges through the proverbial gates, ready to find their way to our collective ears, I would like to take this time to turn your attention to one of 2013's most intoxicating, and obscure releases. And listening to it won't even take that much of your time...
With all of the talk that has swirled around concerning the death of the album, it has been very interesting to see how the EP has made its presence more visible in recent years. Just in 2013, the Pixies gave us "EP1" (released September 3, 2013), their first shot at creating a new musical future for themselves, a future that now includes "EP2" (released January 3, 2014). The Flaming Lips, after releasing their cosmically tinged and soul searching full length album "The Terror" (released April 1, 2013) gave us "Peace Sword" (released November 29, 2013), their extension of film music composed for the movie "Ender's Game" (2013). Even the mighty, legendary Fleetwood Mac, gave us "Extended Play' (released April 30, 2013) as somewhat of a teaser for potentially more music to come. All of these examples, plus so many others, are ways for artists to present new material and sometimes deliver the scope of an album in a much more digestible package I suppose, and especially so in our increasingly accelerated times. Frankly, this is a concept that I still cannot quite wrap my head around for if we are a society that is just too busy to listen to 75 minutes worth of music or see a film that has a running time of over two hours, then how can we still spend three to five hours at a sports event? But I digress...
At this time, I present to you the band The Cold And Lovely, the musical brainchild of producer/songwriter/singer/multi-instrumentalist Meghan Toohey and featuring the essential musical contributions of bassist/singer Nicole Fiorentino. I have to say that I always like to see what happens when musicians from one band branch outwards into different musical collaborations or else develop music on their own, much like when Karl Wallinger, once the keyboardist for The Waterboys, departed that band to create World Party. Being able to hear what occurs and transpires under different musical circumstances is thrilling to me and I was originally drawn to The Cold And Lovely via my interest and deep appreciation for Ms. Fiorentino, whose current tenure in The Smashing Pumpkins assisted greatly in not only revitalizing and solidifying the reconfigured band, her supremely warm presence combined with her excellent musical and vocal proficiency were key elements in the glorious success of the band's most recent album "Oceania" (released June 19, 2012). Basically, Nicole Fiorentino won me over completely and I would follow her anywhere, thus making the leap to check out The Cold And Lovely a no-brainer to say the least.
Once "The Cold And Lovely" (released June 5, 2012), the band's debut full length album arrived, I was immediately struck by the sheer sonic power of the music. Yes, Nicole Fiorentino's bass playing remained driving, pulsating and filled with that exquisite "McCartney-esque" melodicism and her lush harmony vocals kept hitting my sweet spot. But what really struck me about that album was the dark romance of the music, which was forward thinking yet provided succulent echoes to the past as the music of The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Cocteau Twins, Concrete Blonde and even U2's more atmospheric moments floated around The Cold And Lovely like the very best of artistically guiding specters. And now, we have "Ellis Bell," an EP instead of a full length release, that again creates that icy, gothic yet propulsive spell and confirms that The Cold And Lovely are a band you seriously need to keep your eyes and ears open towards...and with a running time of about 22 minutes, you can gather the full experience easily. I strongly feel that these songs, featuring Meghan Toohey's clear, direct songwriting, will grab you so instantly that repeated listenings will become compulsively paramount.
TRACK BY TRACK:
"DOLL"
The EP opens with a blast of enveloping wordless vocals accompanied by a skittering drum loop which then extends itself into widescreen sound with spiraling sonics anchored by Fiorentino's rumbling rhythmic bass guitar. Toohey's sweet lead vocals enter the fray which cleverly and completely belie the sardonic sting of the lyrics which admonish the latest in a long line of promiscuous tarts. "Aren’t you wonderful you little doll/You woo them all/you win them all/...my cocaine doll," she sings with a bitter contempt that also suggests a certain sorrow with the loss of what may have been a former friend. It is an aggressive opening track, one that perfectly sets the stage for the five tracks to follow.
"BRING IT"
This taut, chugging, almost bratty sounding track is not terribly far removed from something you might hear from the band Sleigh Bells, as the beats and repeated chants of the song's title conjures up the image of cheerleaders of a school whose team colors are black and blue (special and endless thanks to The Waitresses for that reference!). Any sense of facetiousness aside, this song succeeds for the same reasons that so many of The Smashing Pumpkins' body of work succeeds: that it presents itself through a tough-as-nails veneer but inside that hard shell contains an extremely recognizable fragility which formulates its own newfound sense of independence. "I've made my fair share of missteps," sings Toohey at one point in the song. But throughout the track, Toohey unleashes an unrepentant will to forge ahead on her own terms and path, regardless of the status quo and if you wish to join her or even battle her, feel free, she can take it. "Bring It" is essentially an anthem that shares sentiments with Lenny Kravitz's "Bring It On." It is a song for the young, the disenfranchised, the forgotten, and the ones on the fringes as much as I think it is also an anthem for those who exist in the mainstream. It is a song that tells us and itself to keep marching forwards and it is designed for anyone with a beating, empathetic heart to understand.
"ELLIS BELL"
I remember that when I first heard the opening moments of the EP's title track, I was hit by imagery of someone running through the woods, either away from or surrounded by or perhaps even towards some foreboding force, a feeling confirmed once Toohey sang the lyrics, "I can feel you/wilder than the wind/I can sense you/coming around the bend/...and I love surprises."
The nocturnal and almost erotic rush of "Ellis Bell," a track inspired by Wuthering Heights, feels like The Cold And Lovely took the source material plus Kate Bush's classic rendering and revamped it for the age of Goth. Like "Doll," the track's churning guitars, bass and drum loops push the song's momentum commendably. But most importantly, the music gives a hauntingly carnal urgency to the intensely yearning lyrics, an urgency that only builds in power towards the song's climax, which features swirling harmony vocals that exclaim, "I waited all the night/I waited in the rain/I waited all the night/I waited through the pain." The effect by song's end envelops you like a powerful wind, the very kind that makes you gasp for breath.
"RED EYE"
After the grand emotions, infectious rhythms, high drama and whirling intensity of the EPs first three tracks, "Red Eye" almost feels like an interlude with its glacier synths, e-bow guitars and quieter vocals. But upon further listening and examination of the song's lyrics, which could be dismissed as yet another hymn about the miserable "life-on-the-road," what Toohey actually delivers is a song of intense introspection, regret, and loneliness that could be transferred to anyone's respective stage in life. And if that is the case, then what is the titular "red eye" but that moment of pause in life where we confront ourselves in dark periods of soul searching? We have all experienced that very pause at one time or another and this track nails that precise emotion elegantly.
"BLUE IN GREEN AGAIN"
With the return of the full band, The Cold And Lovely continue with a section of deep introspection but for this track, we are engaged with the wonderment of the passage of time, the inevitability of our impending mortality and how they each relate to those that are the closest to ourselves. "Blue In Green Again" broods along with equal parts warmth and turbulence that encapsulates all that we have heard so far throughout the EP and still doesn't even begin to prepare us for what lies next...
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"REPETITION"
Talk about saving the best for last!! As strong as The Cold And Lovely are, they do strike me as a band that is still in the process of finding themselves. If I were to offer them any advice or suggestions that they would actually heed (and of course, why wouldn't they?!), "Repetition" is the EXACT direction in which they should head. Possibly again utilizing the process of touring as a metaphor for each and every one of us in all of our repetitive daily routines and obligations as well as the physical and psychological tolls they can take upon us, "Repetition" is far and away my favorite track of the EP. And I have to further mention that as I have listened to it in my car through my daily travels around the city, this is the track that I will play...ahem, repeatedly and ad nauseum!
"Repetition" has got it all! The aggressive and crisp guitar attack. The heavily layered vocals which grow in complexity and seductiveness the further the track extends. Perfectly placed hand claps alongside abrupt melodic chord changes, ethereal keyboards and the almost jazz influenced rhythm section. And then, you've got the chorus, which just erupts through the speakers (almost like classic Def Leppard): "It’s the repetition of the part/It’s the calculations in the chart/Receiving the transmission to kick start/The timing and the beating for your heart."
This is the song that makes me want to reach for my drum sticks and QUICK! It is the song I want to sing along with right then and there! If I had a real world radio show, this is the track I would play every damn day! Every single sound works beautifully with each other as it is a track that packs an album's worth of music into its scant three minutes and thirty nine seconds. Just MASTERFUL and I sincerely hope that whatever inspired and fueled this track, the band bottled it so they can unleash it once again whenever they decide to craft new music.
The Cold And Lovely is a band that is far off the beaten path but is also one I truly hope that you make an effort to seek out as sometimes the best musical surprises come within the music that is hard sought. With Meghan Toohey, you will be in the hands of an ace songwriter with a voice that I feel will only grow stronger in power and complexity. And with The Cold And Lovely, you have a band that rocks, roars and swings with confidence and skillful swagger and who knows, they just may possibly inspire young female listeners to pick up pens and instruments again--for as far as I am concerned, we need more female songwriters, musicians and producers than any more pop stars.
For all of the 2013 album releases, The Cold And Lovely's "Ellis Bell" was indeed one of the year's finest gifts.
CODA:
So, if I have convinced you to seek this release out, here's where you can find it as I am unsure if it is available in traditional brick and mortar record stores. Yes, you can find it on I-Tunes, but why not just head straight to the source itself at www.thecoldandlovely.com and purchase a physical or digital copy direct from the band?
I'm certain they would appreciate your interest!
Fantastico!!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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