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Apr 09, 2024 By Mark Redfern Photography by Craig Scheihing

Cola have announced their sophomore album, The Gloss, and shared a new song from it, “Pallor Tricks,” via a music video. They have also announced some tour dates. The Gloss is due out June 14 via Fire Talk. Check out the new single below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover artwork, as well as the tour dates.

The Gloss includes “Bitter Melon,” a new song Cola shared in March via a lyric video. The single was also available as a flexi disc (accompanied by a zine) and was one of our Songs of the Week. The album also features the band’s 2023 single “Keys Down If You Stay.”

Cola consists of ex-Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy and Evan Cartwright (drummer with U.S. Girls and The Weather Station). Their debut album, Deep In View, was released in 2022.

Darcy had this to say about “Pallor Tricks” in a press release: “The title ‘Pallor Tricks’ is obviously a play on ‘parlor tricks.’ The lyrics feature imagery from film sets and such. I suppose I was thinking of the kind of self-consciousness that can arise when a camera is rolling. I’ve always been particularly affected by the performances I (rarely) see on so-called ‘reality TV.’ The type of performance where a person is compelled into a kind of ‘hyper-real’ state where they summon grotesque approximations of emotion that are exaggerated but not elevated, as they are in art. I’m sure there’s lots of compelling stuff that goes on in those programs and I don’t mean to cast aspersions, this idea of performance simply became a jumping off point when we were writing this one. The song also cycles to a more sincere open chorus, a kind of musical juxtaposition.

“The video by Craig Scheihing is not only a brilliant piece of film, it also mirrors some of these themes by presenting an array of screens and refracted 16 MM dreamscapes alongside this kind of direct connection of Evan and his girlfriend.”

The Gloss Tracklist:

1. Tracing Hallmarks
2. Pulling Quotes
3. Pallor Tricks
4. Albatross
5. Down to Size
6. Keys Down If You Stay
7. Reprise
8. Nice Try
9. Bell Wheel
10. Bitter Melon

Cola Tour Dates: 05.08 - Hanover, DE @ Cafe Glocksee
05.09 - Rotterdam, NL @ Vessell 11
05.10 - Eindhoven, NL @ Altstadt
05.11 - Luxembourg @ Out of the Crowd Festival
05.13 - Ramsgate, UK @ Ramsgate Music Hall
05.14 - Birkenhead, UK @ Future Yard
05.15 - Cardiff, UK @ Clwb Ifor Bach
05.17 - London, UK @ The George Tavern
05.18 - London, UK @ The George Tavern
07.05 - Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
07.06 - Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s
07.07 - Detroit, MI @ Lager House
07.08 - Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
07.11 - Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records
07.12 - Atlanta, GA @ 529
07.13 - Asheville, NC @ Eulogy
07.15 - Washington, DC @ Songbyrd +
07.16 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s +
07.17 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom +
07.18 - Troy, NY @ No Fun +
07.19 - Boston, MA @ The Rockwell +
07.20 - Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount +
10.10 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar *
10.11 - Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon *
10.12 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill *
10.14 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios *
10.16 - Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall
10.17 - Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s *

+ = w/ Mhaol
* = w/ Mind Shrine

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