Louis Cole Shares Title Track for 'nothing'

Grammy-nominated producer/artist/composer Louis Cole has shared the title track and final single from his new upcoming album, nothing, out August 9th via Brainfeeder, a collaboration with the Dutch Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley. 

Previous singles from the album include “These Dreams Are Killing Me,” “Things Will Fall Apart” and “Life.” Taken from Cole’s live performances with the Orkest, nothing fuses classical orchestration with Cole’s irreverent pop, and jazz sensibilities. Cole will return to Germany and the Netherlands this fall to perform nothing alongside the Orkest and Buckley.

A sweeping, orchestral interlude, “nothing” elegantly showcases Louis Cole’s newfound symphonic sensibilities. Cinematic and larger than life, this string-heavy piece marries classical instrumentation with a familiar pop melodicism, creating a perfect introduction to Cole’s ever-growing musical evolution.

This self-effacing title raises a smile not least because nothing is a truly epic record in scope and sound. Bigger, bolder, and more expansive than ever, Cole wrote, produced and arranged the record from top to bottom, rejecting the well-trodden path to orchestral renditions of his greatest hits and instead opting to compose a suite of brand new music for this project. The 17 tracks are derived from a sold-out European tour that he embarked on with his band and the 50-piece orchestra conducted by Jules Buckley. With the exception of a few vocal re-recordings and instrumental overdubs, everything you'll hear on nothing was culled from these ecstatic live dates.

Many still see Louis Cole foremost as a drummer. nothing, Cole's fifth album and his third on Brainfeeder, is bound to change that impression. Collaborating with the Metropole Orkest and Jules Buckley, he rejected the well-trodden path to orchestral renditions of his greatest hits and instead opted to compose a suite of brand new music for this project – bigger, bolder, and more expansive than ever. Yes, there are nods to his GRAMMY-nominated 2022 album Quality Over Opinion, but 15 of the 17 tracks included here are brand new. This is jazz. This is classical music. It's got that funk. You'll hear synths and loops. You'll hear a band and live drumming. There's a world class orchestra playing. Some pieces are ultra concise, whereas the sprawling “Doesn’t Matter” surpasses the ten minute mark. To Cole, jazz has always been the one place where you can really let go of all expectations – on nothing, he is putting the music where his mouth is.

The Metropole Orkest proved to be the ideal partner for this endeavor. Over the course of its 80 year history, it has worked with legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Pat Metheny, and Herbie Hancock – exactly the kind of border-crossing mentality Cole was looking for. Add into the equation the conductor, arranger, curator and composer Jules Buckley and this really is a triple threat of epic proportions. Buckley is a unique and rare breed of artist – a GRAMMY winner who has redefined the rulebook of orchestral music and the role of a conductor.

 Together, the ensemble embarked on a multi-date sold-out tour through Europe with the 50-piece orchestra, Cole's band, as well as guest stars like his long-time creative partner Genevieve Artadi. With the exception of a few vocal re-recordings and instrumental overdubs, everything you'll hear on nothing was culled from these ecstatic live dates.

This is remarkable because, almost until the very end, nothing was not actually an album. It was a collaboration, a series of concerts, a cross-over between two worlds. Cole had been eagerly waiting for an opportunity like this for years. His father had been a big classical music fan and as a kid, he'd absorbed a lot of that. Once he got the call to work on a project involving an orchestra, he instantly “went hard” with the writing. The finished recording encompasses 17 tracks and stretches across more than an hour of music – and still, a few more tracks had to be left on the cutting room floor.

Cole was looking for something very specific. The challenge was to create music that had a deep emotional impact, while also being really simple and straight-forward. Already at the earliest stages of his orchestral ambitions, he had tried and failed to achieve this ideal. It would remain an obsession for years. Even when nothing was still a live project, it didn't seem like he would be able to pull it off. And then, at the very last minute, Louis decided to give it one more go. One night, he sat down at the keyboard and instantly realized: “This is it!” He struck on the ideas and themes which would become the pivotal title track of the album.

 Just as with many of the orchestral pieces, there was a clear vision of the feeling and the sound he was looking for. For “Ludovici Cole Est Frigus,” he based everything on a 30-40 chord progression at a pace of “one chord at a time.” Then, he went back in with the pencil tool and Logic, finding and weaving together little melodies. It was a slow, assiduous process. But working with an outside arranger was never an option: “It was the only way I was ever going to be happy with the results. This is my pure vision. It doesn't get blended in or mixed with anyone else's.”

Having already written and arranged the suite, Cole is also very proud of the mixing, an epic task in its own right. For a full nine months, he selected the best takes, tweaked the sonic balance and adjusted frequencies until the orchestral parts really shone. “I was sad when the mixing was over,” he laughs, “Sometimes, when I'm mixing my own solo stuff, I'll feel like a song needs a little magical dust. But mixing an entire orchestra and your own rhythm section, there's so much human energy! You don't have to add any magic. It was there the whole time.” 

nothing is released on 9th August 2024 via Brainfeeder Records. It will be available in two vinyl prints as well. There will be a 2LP white vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve, with black paper inners. Cover artwork by Louis Cole and design by Adam Stover. There will also be a limited edition 2LP clear/black marbled vinyl housed in a gatefold sleeve.

Louis Cole / nothing (Brainfeeder) Tracklisting

1. Ludovici Cole Est Frigus

2. Things Will Fall Apart

3. Life

4. It All Passes

5. Cruisin’ for P

6. A Pill in the Sea

7. nothing

8. Who Cares 1

9. Who Cares 2

10. Wizard Funk

11. Weird Moments

12. High Five

13. These Dreams are Killing Me

14. Shallow Laughter : Bitches (orchestral version)

15. Let it Happen (orchestral version)

16. Doesn’t Matter

17. You Belonged

Upcoming European Live Dates

Louis Cole & Metropole Orkest conducted by Jules Buckley

06 Oct – Philharmonie Essen, DE

07 Oct – TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht (Ronda), NL

08 Oct – Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, NL

09 Oct – SPOT, Grote Zaal, Groningen, NL

10 Oct – Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, NL

Photo Credit: Credited to the artist

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