Filipino-American singer and producer Cold Hart announces his new album Pretty In The Dark arriving on May 18th via Epitaph Records. An architect of one of the generation’s most influential musical movements of the 2010s and beyond, he co-founded GOTHBOICLIQUE and changed the definition of punk and emo forever. With Pretty In The Dark, Cold Hart continues to explore the endless possibilities of the GBC ethos of blending the familiar with the unfamiliar, the light with the dark, and the nostalgic with the future.
Cold Hart also shares the music video to the lead single and album opener ‘2017′ featuring GOTHBOICLIQUE. Over spirited pop-punk riffs and a steady driving beat, reverbed-out vocal harmonies are layered for a haunting effect. “A memoir of one of the craziest years in my life,” Cold Hart muses. “ ”2017” is a newer take on old GBC style, and almost every line is a homage to those days and most of the lyrics are references to old songs.”
Check it out below: ‘2017’
Much has changed for Cold Hart since GBC’s blog-era reign. While his 2021 album Every Day Is A Day was created in the midst of welcoming his newborn daughter and moving from his native Long Beach to Long Island with his wife, Pretty In The Dark is an exhale as he settles into that routine. He’s now a father of two, and after moving deeper into Long Island and adjusting to the rhythm of adulthood, he’s taking the nuances of life in stride. Inspired by a new outlook on darkness, Cold Hart reflects on how he came up with title’s tongue-in-cheek play on words: “I like standing out in the dark woods and feeling how calm it is. That’s how the album is; instead of the dark being scary, it’s nice.”
Part of Pretty In The Dark’s foray into Cold Hart’s psyche comes from relinquishing some of his creative control, aided by legendary producer, engineer, and mixer Andrew Dawson (Kanye West, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Code Orange). Alongside longtime collaborator and fellow GBC member, YAWNS, Cold Hart struck the balance between his past, present, and future. “Working with Andrew and YAWNS together really pushed me to try out new things on this album,” he says. “I really wanted it to have a feeling of familiarity at the same time.”
Drawing inspiration from goth icons such as The Cure and Lebanon Hanover, on Pretty In The Dark Cold Hart pairs dark trap leanings of Atlanta producers like Metro Boomin, with a diet of 80’s punk and 90’s RnB consumed as a kid. His retroactive discovery of bands like Brand New and Saves the Day only further enhanced his vision. As delicate pianos and vast guitar-led abysses make way for the familiar comfort of rumbling bass and 808s, layered harmonies and soaring falsettos clear a path for his most vulnerable collection yet.
Alongside a boisterous crew (including Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Horse Head, Lil Peep, Døves, Fish Narc, YAWNS, Mackned, Lil Tracy, and JPDreamthug), Cold Hart helped usher 2000’s rock nostalgia into the modern Soundcloud age. While he fondly looks back at his old material as a time capsule of a distant past that shaped his rich future, his new record Pretty In The Dark takes one step closer to the hazy post-punk world that he has built around him.
Pretty In The Dark Tracklisting
- 2017 feat. GBC
- Candlelight, Pt. 2
- Rap Show
- Bag of Hearts
- What Remains
- Pretty In The Dark
- TSOM
- Gazer
- Bold Riley
- My Tasks Alone
- Bottle Run Dry
- Light Headed feat. BONES
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