Cold War Kids
It’s been over a decade since Cold War Kids first charged into indie rock aughts with their hit 'Hang Me Out to Dry' and they’ve seen more #1 hits since. Now with their sixth album L.A. Divine released this Spring, the band has come full circle with sculpted songs that sound like something they would’ve created a decade prior, while being a combination of some of the best things they’ve done.
“This album has all of the elements of what we’ve always done, but we also honed things in to really drive home the kind of Cold War Kids sound that we’ve always had. We kinda took everything that we’ve always done but did it in way to be at the front lines," frontman Nathan Willett says. “This record is unique because we got to take all those original elements and not necessarily experiment, but I think we got to write better songs. I feel this record is the best version of what we’ve always done.”
Being Long Beach natives, the album pays tribute to their hometown Los Angeles, and its bizarre beauty. “I think growing up in and around L.A. and then touring for so many years, you see how extremely different cultures in cities are in the country and around the world. L.A. really is its own thing -- it’s a totally unique, strange city that people have such extreme feelings of love or hate. There are people that think it’s like the promised land, and at the same time there’s a lot of people that just think it’s impossible to understand and weird, shallow and fake. LA Divine is an attempt to encapsulate some of those -- trying to take some of the old clichés about L.A. and unpack them a little bit, look at them differently.”
While the album’s centerpiece is Los Angeles, there are songs that also tackle love and relationships, from Willet’s personal perspective. “For me, there’s very much songs that are relationship songs. There’s a lot of stuff that’s much closer to the surface for me, about the strains of relationships and distance, and the struggles of two people who are chasing different things but staying together and all those struggles are there. But I do think that the backdrop of L.A. is there in all of them.”
After 13 years together, the band has evolved into a well oiled machine that is comfortable with itself finally. “I really do think the success at first had a big impact confidence wise, kind of knowing who I am and what I do, and knowing the sound of the band. In some ways, both what we do well and what people want from us -- how to just make that all better. The confidence that came with success and that song, it definitely gave a whole new life to the band. Cold War kids right now, it’s kind of just like a part two where we’ve kind of been given a new life and perspective, and I think this record is the first of that turning point. I think everyone I’ve talked to feels like there’s such an immediacy to it and a clear vision in a way that’s always been kind of lingering in previous records, but maybe not so focused.”
This album also marks the first time the band enlisted another artist to sing on a song, collaborating with Bishop Briggs on the ‘So Tied Up’. “I’ve always really wanted to do exactly what we ended up doing. Something that feels really organic, finding another artist who can merge those things so well. And the sound of her voice is so incredible in that song.”
With a legion of loyal long-time fans, what does the band hope new fans will take away from this album? “We’re kind of at a point where, if people love or hate something, we’re so fortunate to do what we do and not have to worry too much about a make-or-break record or song. That’s a pretty rare situation in this time. I’m very aware of how lucky to be in that position.We have had some records that didn’t have as huge of an impact that we wanted, you can’t control whether something takes off or falls through the cracks, so we make music for ourselves, without sales in mind. You learn to become your own internal compass and to release it because you feel good about that song. The great thing about having the thick-skin phases of your work is the feeling you get when people respond well to something--it feels really good -- in a way, it feels more earned than your first or second record.”
Photography by Sean Flynn
Written by Heather Seidler
