Inthe decade since their formation, Cold War Kids have come a long way. Their first record saw quite a lot of success, even though it contrasted so heavily with the popular sound of the time. While sonically it seemed unusually buoyant, lyrically it was a rather probing examination of some of the darker elements of humanity. From alcoholism to incarceration to vehicular manslaughter and theft, each song from 2006’sRobbers & Cowardsfelt like an apathetic account of a life in disrepair. It was a single dark entity floating in a sea of pastel-coloured, new-wave-inspired electropop music.
The release of Cold War Kids’ latest album, Hold My Home, marks a shift in songwriting for the group. It’s something of a deliberate regression, an attempt to get back to basics and reconnect with the ideas and attitudes that informed their early releases.
“We just had this big group of mutual friends in the LA area that were a bunch of artists or musicians,” says vocalist and pianist Nathan Willett, remembering Cold War Kids’ formative days. “It was a big old group. It was good actually, because it meant you had about a hundred people that would come to your shows.
“I don’t know if the scene was thriving, because it was the only scene I’ve ever really been a part of. We weren’t in LA proper, we were kinda in the Long Beach area, so it felt like we were maybe a little left of centre. We didn’t feel like we were trying to be aware of anything in any mainstream kind of way. We just kinda had labels and booking agents come in a really organic way, which in hindsight is pretty shocking, but at the time that was just the way it happened, and looking back, I think we were insanely lucky.”
Artists that make such a formidable mark on the musical landscape with their debut release are destined to always be remembered for that initial impact. When such a bold impression is made, finding a way to further yourself and maintain your audience’s interest is a task perhaps harder than breaking through in the first place. With growth comes growing pains, yet while Cold War Kids’ inception into the world of popular music might have been organic, their development has largely been considered and purposeful.
“It’s funny. You get to a point where you think, ‘Do we make changes? And if we do, are they forced? Or false? Or do we just get in there and start writing the songs we write and not think too hard about it?’ We knew who we were pretty early on, so you think, ‘How do we keep the sound this group [is known for] and continue to write songs and also expand and play with the space that we’ve got?’”
There are plenty of us that sit on the outside looking in, envious of the opportunities afforded to successful musicians without considering the responsibility that goes with them, but there are inevitable and unavoidable difficulties that come with trying to turn your passion into a professional pursuit.
“From the very first record, and none of us would have anticipated this, but it has been a full-time job,” says Willett. “Art is a strange thing, in that you want to be able to do it for a living, but you don’t want to be thinking about it professionally; you don’t want to think about making money. It’s not like real estate, where the goal is to make the most money.”
So with some ten years’ experience in performing this balancing act, growing and developing their sound, Hold My Home has seen Cold War Kids come full circle, blending the attitude that spawned their debut with the experience they’ve garnered since.
“Inevitably, the record is going to be compared to the first one because it is probably the most direct and to-the-point record, in many ways,” Willett says. “The last record only really came out a year-and-a-half ago or so, and we wanted to get this one out quickly and embrace all the advantages of having our own studio. I think it’s part of the modern age of being in a band. You don’t wait around in between records, because with the technology available you don’t need [to] labour on it in the way that you might have had to in the past. So there’s an immediacy, lyrically and musically – that’s the way we approached it; we didn’t want it to sound or feel laboured over.”
While Hold My Home certainly doesn’t sound laboured over, Willett’s never been one to shy away from flexing his linguistic muscle. The earnestness present in Cold War Kids’ more solemn tracks is something that can’t be manufactured – it’s the by-product of genuine introspection; something Willett reveals still plagues him in the time between keeping busy with music.
“There are the times, between finishing a record and beginning a tour, that you think about it most. They’re also the times I try not to think about it. You get too introspective and think, ‘Who am I? What am I doing with my life?’ I have spent my whole adulthood on tour, and does that mean I’m a child developmentally because I’m not in the same workplace structure that most of my adult friends are? Do I have too much freedom? Do I not use it well enough? Should I be trying to write a book? Or spend more time feeding the homeless? Or do more good in general? Or just work harder in general? It’s hard to not ask yourself too many questions that just stunt you and prevent you from doing anything at all. So how does that affect my life? I guess sometimes my cup runneth over and I’m so stuck that it’s impossible to do anything, and other times I’m up and I’m doing all I can do with everything I’ve been given. I’m usually somewhere between those two places.”
Hold My Home out now through Downtown/Create Control. Catch them at The Hi-Fi onTuesday January 6, tickets online.Also appearing alongside Alt-J, Jamie xx, SBTRKT, Joey Bada$$ and many more atFalls Festival, Lorne, Marion Bay and Byron Bay, Sunday December 28 – Saturday January 3.
