Ladan Hussein, known on stage as Cold Specks, will release her highly anticipated new album Fool's Paradise, September 22 via Arts & Crafts. Intimately exploring her identity as a Somali-Canadian woman, Fool's Paradise is Hussein's most personal work yet. Today she reveals new album track "New Moon," a personal love letter to oneself about love and growth was produced and mixed by long-time collaborator Jim Anderson at Easy Life Studio in Toronto. The track samples Jim-E Stack and premiered with FADER.
"The song is a document of a lost year. It was all very strange, beautiful and manic. I found myself developing these intense relationships with strangers and cities." explains Ladan. "I kept looking up at the moon for some sort of clarity. It would help me measure my lost time, fleeting desire, and frantically plan for the future. Each phase carried more weight. I guess it explores the aftermath of heartbreak. I had to learn to detach, self-care and whisper sweet nothings to myself over and over again."
LISTEN TO AND SHARE "NEW MOON" HERE
Recent singles "
Fool's Paradise" and "
Wild Card" quickly received accolades from
The New York Times,
Indie Shuffle,
Consequence of Sound,
SPIN,
Stereogum,
W Magazine and more. Both tracks also feature Tim
Kingsbury of
Arcade Fire performing bass.
The album encapsulates the naturalness of existing during difficult times. Hussein recently learned about her family's former life in Somalia - including her father's musical legacy. During her 2015 Neuroplasticity tour in Australia, Ladan discovered that her father helped form a famous band in the 1970s called Iftin. During the writing process, she dug deep into grainy VHS recordings found online of Iftin, and of many other Somali musicians, songs and videos that had survived war. "My parents never talked much about life in Mogadishu growing up" Hussein explains, "the war split up my family, scattered them around the world, left many missing, and those that made it were forever changed." Saling her way to shore after grueling trial, error, and musical acclaim - Fool's
Paradise is the sound of finding home, identity, and self-love.
Cold Specks is set to launch the FOOL'S PARADISE WORLD TOUR 2017 with an extensive European tour and a slew of
North American dates with stops in NYC, Los Angeles, DC, Philadelphia, Denver, Nashville and more! Full dates can be found below. In 2015, Hussein followed her critically acclaimed debut LP, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion, with the release of Neuroplasticity, both of which were nominated for the
Polaris Music Prize with the former also earning a JUNO Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist Of The Year. Between albums, when
Cold Specks wasn't writing or touring, Hussein was pinballing between asks from an enviable roll call of collaborators. She was asked to work on Moby's album Innocents and was invited to play withJoni Mitchell at the singer's 70th birthday alongside the likes of Herbie Hancock. She contributed to Ambrose Akinmusire's 2014 record for Blue Note and Swans' 2014 album To Be Kind. These last two partnerships left a significant impression on Neuroplasticity resulting in the indomitable Swans founder
Michael Gira and Akinmusire to both appear on the album. Most recently, she has worked with
Massive Attack on the track "Dead Editors" featuring
Roots Manuva from their 2016 Ritual
Spirit EP.
FOOL'S PARADISE WORLD TOUR 2017
European Dates
9/30: Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny (
TICKETS)
10/1: Leeds, UK @ Lending Room (
TICKETS)
10/02: Glasgow, UK @ King Tut's (
TICKETS)
10/03: Manchester, UK @ Night & Day (
TICKETS)
10/04: Bristol, UK @ Cube (
TICKETS)
10/05: London, UK @
Omeara (
TICKETS)
10/06: Paris, FR @
Supersonic (FREE)
10/07: Brussels, BL @ Witloof Bar (
TICKETS)
10/09: Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet (
TICKETS)
10/10: Cologne, DE @ Yuca (
TICKETS)
10/11: Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher (
TICKETS)
10/12: Aarhus, DK (
TICKETS)
10/13: Copenhagen, DK @ Vega (
TICKETS)
10/14: Berlin, DE @ Musik & Frieden (
TICKETS)
10/15: Frankfurt, DE @ Brotfabrik (
TICKETS)
10/16: Munich, DE @ Milla (
TICKETS)
10/18: Vienna, AT @ Arena (
TICKETS)
10/19: Zurich, CH @ Theatre Gessneralle @ Stall 6 (
TICKETS)
10/20: Geneva, CH @ La Graviere (
TICKETS)
10/21: Rome, IT @ Quirinetta (
TICKETS)
North American Dates
11/2: Somerville, MA @ ONCE Somerville
11/3: Washington, DC @ Black Cat
11/4: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
11/5: Richmond, VA @ Hardywood Park Craft Brewery
11/6: Durham, NC @Motorco Music Hall
11/7: Atlanta, GA @
The Masquerade Purgatory
11/8: Nashville, TN @ The High Watt
11/9: St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
11/10: Omaha, NE @
Reverb Lounge
11/11: Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Lounge
11/13: San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
11/15: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
11/16: San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
11/17: Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
11/18: Seattle, WA @ Barboza
11/20: Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret
11/22: Calgary, CA @
Commonwealth Bar & Stage
11/23: Edmonton, CA @ The Needle Vinyl Tavern
11/24: Regina, CA @ The Exchange
11/25: Winnipeg, CA @
The Good Will
Social Club
11/27: Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
11/28: Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
11/29: Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar
11/30: Toronto, CA @ Virgin Mobile Mod Club
12/1: Montreal, CA @ Phi Center
12/2: Ottawa, CA @ The 27 Club
12/6: Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Art Space
12/7: Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right
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photo credit: Neva Wireko
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