Lloyd Cole – On Pain
Lloyd Cole – On Pain
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital
Label: earMUSIC
Release: 2023
Release date: June 23, 2023
‘On Pain’ is Lloyd’s twelfth album as a solo artist and features eight new Lloyd Cole songs, four of which are co-written by Commotions founding members Blair Cowan and Neil Clark, who also perform on the record. The album is produced by Chris Merrick Hughes and was recorded in Lloyd’s attic studio The Establishment. As a special for all fans limited and signed ‘On Pain’ art prints will be made available.
Lloyd shares: “I’m excited to still be finding new methods, new perspectives, new sounds. The album may be nearing commercial death, but my career has been in that state for almost 30 years and here we are, still, and I still want to make albums. I still want to be heard. I’m very much looking forward to being on stage with Neil, and Blair in October. We have no intention of producing a retro show.”
Through both his work being the front man of The Commotions and his solo career, Lloyd Cole established himself as one of the most articulate and acute songwriters of the post-punk era. He formed The Commotions in 1982 while studying philosophy at the University of Glasgow. What originally started as a hobby for students, largely through Cole’s sophisticated style of writing, soon became a creative force to be reckoned with. The band’s debut, ‘Rattlesnakes’ was a wry, heartfelt record of jangling guitar pop that was rich with references to the likes of Simone De Beauvoir, Norman Mailer, or Jules et Jim. The brilliance of this songwriting subsequently took over to his solo work, when he departed from The Commotions in 1987 to move to New York and establish himself as a solo artist. Undergoing several artistic shifts, from minimalistic to folk-rock-inspired to electronic, Cole’s work never compromised the high creative value that he has proven to provide over his distinguished career. His artistic integrity and proven divergence make him one of the most capable and remarkable songwriters to this day.
Following on from his last album, 2019’s critically acclaimed ‘Guesswork’, the musical style of ‘On Pain’ consists mainly of electronic sounds. Once Lloyd Cole had formulated a sonic picture of the record he wanted to make, the arrival of each new song gradually brought that picture into focus. His distinguishable voice and sophisticated lyricism invite the listener into the mindset of someone who has reached old age and is coming to terms with this. At times, the experience of listening to ‘On Pain’ is akin to sitting in a sleek, state-of-the-art departure lounge, unsure of quite where you’re waiting to go.
Website: https://www.lloydcole.com/
Tracks:
01. On Pain
02. Warm by the Fire
03. I Can Hear Everything
04. The Idiot
05. You are Here Now
06. This Can’t Be Happening
07. More of What You Are
08. Wolves