If you’re ready for a wild, dark night, take a ride with Australia’s The Cold Field, who have just dropped a new video for their cinematic song, Hunters, off their brand-new debut album Black River (Shipwreck Recording).
Hunters narrative lyrics weave a tale of an anxious young woman alone in a cab whose final destination is fated to unknown tragedy during the after-hours of a bleak cityscape and a disconnected state of consciousness. Inspired by Cold Showers‘ 2012 hit song and video BC in many ways, the minimal coldwave tune reflects a contemporary experience in a “sharply contemporary world.”
The track features hypnotic beats with treacherous bassline and eerie guitar reverb, as broken male cries sink below the stinging icy synth stabs, enhancing the sinister atmosphere of unseen danger and exploited naïveté. It is a nod to the melodramatic subgenre of classic car tragedy songs, explored by everyone from Porter Wagoner to Jan and Dean to The Normal, but with an Unsolved Mysteries-meets-shoegaze twist.
“Our lyrics and our music tackle themes of urban isolation, depression, and melancholy amongst first world excesses that in time give little consolation towards our unrelenting human condition,” says the band.
The surreal visuals blur a mysterious car ride upon a deserted city street, while a single electric blue bolt charges the abstract backdrop with fear and dread.
Formed by Adelaide’s Ian Messenger (vox, guitar, synth, drums) and Heath Newberry (bass) in the winter of 2018, The Cold Field spans the gamut of coldwave to synth punk. The duo’s mutual interests led to an exciting exploration of sound as they took their cues from classic groups like Joy Division, the Doors, and the Cure, as well as from more contemporary bands like Cold Showers, Black Marble, Soft Moon, Lebanon Hanover and Ritual Howls. The writing and production of Black River spanned winter 2018 to autumn of 2020.
The Cold Field explains their unique process: “The heart of our studio is our Chandler TG Microphone Cassettes. This is a replication of an EMI console used on The Cure and Pink Floyd, and gives a sound and life to the music we couldn’t achieve without this hardware.”
Watch Hunters below:
The Cold Field’s second full album is due for release early 2021. The band has been championed by Obscura Undead, and in June 2020 the video for Hunters was featured as video of the day in White//Light White Heat.
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