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Jun 06, 2024 By Mark Redfern Photography by Amy Fort

Cola are releasing their sophomore album, The Gloss, on June 14 via Fire Talk. Now they have shared another new song from it, “Pulling Quotes,” via a music video. Watch it below.

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 “Pulling Quotes” in a press release: “Ben sent us this demo with music based on the melodic limitations of the Uilleann pipes, which he is learning to play (the bassline is mimicking the drone of the pipes). He and Evan then recorded a demo together that they were really happy with. I’ll admit I wasn’t drawn to it initially but they kept reiterating their enthusiasm for it. I finally sat down and wrote the whole vocal in one afternoon, pretty nearly in final form which rarely happens.

“Lyrically, it’s a song about a relationship where two people are approaching each other like journalists, or perhaps even are journalists. The music is so bright and open I felt the lyrics needed to be a bit cheeky to match the tone. There is definitely some pathos, though, in the darkness of the bridge.”

Stidworthy had this to say about the song’s video: “For me, the video could be seen as a reflection on the cycles of desire and deception in our relationships, and the interference running through that arc - the endless doom scrolling and stalking and assumptions and projections and repeating all these roles we think we should be playing that we’ve seen on TV. It’s about navigating through all this mediation, and trying to make sense of what’s real in the density and mess of it all.”

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.” When The Gloss was announced Cola shared another new song from it, “Pallor Tricks,” via a music video. Then they shared another new song from it, “Albatross,” via a music video.

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