| Today, Hannah Lew signals the return of Cold Beat with the announcement of her third album, Chaos By Invitation, out April 7th via her own Crime on the Moon label. As compared with previous releases, Chaos By Invitation began in Lew’s home, alone, with additional tracking done later by Phil Manley (Trans Am) at El Studio and Mikey Young (Total Control) – only to return to Lew’s home for completion over the course of many months. As a result, the offering is much more personal and direct than Into The Air, which was more of a band effort. Collages from Lew’s home environment make up many of the textures of Chaos By, woven in to create an intimate atmosphere, a sort of chaos by necessity and design. The album also features performances by her friends Kyle King, Alex Shen, Jackson Blumgart, and Mikey Young.
Inspired musically by bands such as NEU! and Tubeway Army, Lew was also influenced by her own burgeoning interest in astronomy. The first single, “62 Moons,” is a song about love taken for granted, analogous to the 62 moons of Saturn, which are in constant loving orbit around a beautiful siren planet with many satellites. The artwork (above), done by Kevin McCarthy – of legendary Bay Area post-punk band Rank Xerox – was made to be machine readable, with some far distant expectation some synthetic intelligence would be able to understand this extremely personal and human album.
LISTEN TO “62 MOONS”
https://youtu.be/23PgtrBYOi8
“’62 Moons’ is the first single, a synth-pop song that swims in crystalline guitars a la Modern English, with a Brill Building romanticism. In its final minute, a wistful, whistling monosynth lead launches the track from Earth, as Lew exhales her ‘fade to black.'” – NPR Music
CHAOS BY INVITATION TRACKLISTING:
1. In Motion
2. Thin Ice
3. Don’t Touch
4. Black Licorice
5. UDW
6. 62 Moons
7. False Alarm
8. Chainmaille
9. Ivory Tower
10. Strawberry Moon
11. In Motion Reprise
PRAISE FOR INTO THE AIR
“Over the four years of its existence, San Francisco’s Cold Beat has made simultaneously dynamic and atmospheric post-punk that plays to Lew’s songwriting acumen and surreal lyricism.” – NPR Music
“Cold Beat’s second album, Into the Air, reaffirms Hannah Lew’s penchant for writing songs that are at once ebullient and subtly sinister.” – Rolling Stone (10 Artists You Need To Know)
“Only two albums in, Cold Beat have nailed wiry, wistful post-punk so well; they can already play with their sound in unexpected ways.” – Pitchfork
“For as much chemistry as this four-piece has, it’s still Lew’s sugar-sweet vocals — now soft and yielding, then tough and brittle — that convey the frustration [‘Cracks’] encompasses. Cold Beat whip these emotions into a beautiful storm, fusing anger and destruction into a glassy, pulsing missive.” – Stereogum
Preorder Chaos By Invitation: http://apple.co/2kp7UVh
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https://soundcloud.com/cold-beat-2
http://www.crimeonthemoon.com/
https://twitter.com/ColdBeatSF |
