Cold Specks Shares New Track 'Void' w. Consequence of Sound Feature
By: Caryn Robbins Sep. 12, 2017
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. Recent singles "Fool's Paradise" "New Moon" "Wild Card" quickly received accolades from The New York Times, Indie Shuffle, Consequence of Sound, SPIN, Stereogum, W Magazine, FADER and more. Consequence of Sound "Origins" feature ran today and includes the premiere of new album track, "Void". Drenched with water imagery and bashful resilience about Somalia's coastline, the track seamlessly blends Cold Specks' smooth soulful vocals with shimmering industrial beats.
Produced and mixed by long-time collaborator Jim Anderson at Easy Life Studio in Toronto, 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 2015Neuroplasticity 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.
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 (TICKETS)
11/3: Washington, DC @ Black Cat (TICKETS)
11/4: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's (TICKETS)
11/5: Richmond, VA @ Hardywood Park Craft Brewery (FREE)
11/6: Durham, NC @Motorco Music Hall (TICKETS)
11/7: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade Purgatory (TICKETS)
11/8: Nashville, TN @ The High Watt (TICKETS)
11/9: St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House (TICKETS)
11/10: Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge (TICKETS)
11/11: Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Lounge (TICKETS)
11/13: San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar (TICKETS)
11/15: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo (TICKETS)
11/16: San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop (TICKETS)
11/17: Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge (TICKETS)
11/18: Seattle, WA @ Barboza (TICKETS)
11/20: Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret (TICKETS)
11/22: Calgary, CA @ Commonwealth Bar & Stage (TICKETS)
11/23: Edmonton, CA @ The Needle Vinyl Tavern (TICKETS)
11/24: Regina, CA @ The Exchange (TICKETS)
11/25: Winnipeg, CA @ The Good Will Social Club (TICKETS)
11/27: Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center (TICKETS)
11/28: Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle (TICKETS)
11/29: Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar (TICKETS)
11/30: Toronto, CA @ Virgin Mobile Mod Club (TICKETS)
12/1: Montreal, CA @ Phi Center (TICKETS)
12/2: Ottawa, CA @ The 27 Club (TICKETS)
12/6: Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Art Space (TICKETS)
12/7: Brooklyn, NY @ Baby's All Right (TICKETS)
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 onMoby's album Innocents and was invited to play with Joni 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 onNeuroplasticity resulting in the indomitable Swans founder Michael Gira and Akinmusire to both appear on the album. Most recently, she has worked withMassive Attack on the track "Dead Editors" featuring Roots Manuva from their 2016 Ritual Spirit EP.
photo credit: Neva Wireko
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