Lloyd Cole | Photo by Mark Dellan
Lloyd Cole paints a vivid picture of a fiery Los Angeles — burning cars, surging mobs — on his driving new single “Warm By the Fire,” a track his publicists posit could reference California’s ravaging wildfires, “the end of days warnings of Greta Thunberg” or the writings of J.G. Ballard.
“Sure, it could be a Ballard story, or it could be a discarded script,” Cole says in the notes accompanying the release of the track, off his upcoming album On Pain. “It could be a VR game the protagonist is immersed in. It could be happening, it could happen, but maybe it isn’t. Maybe it won’t.”
The song, written by Cole and produced by Chris Merrick Hughes, is the second released off of Cole’s 12th solo album On Pain, following two “(p)remixes” of album closer “Wolves.”
The eight-song album, which features four songs co-written with fellow Commotions Blair Cowan and Neil Clark, is due out June 23 and can be preordered on CD and vinyl.
Cole tells American Songwriter that he hard a hard time finding a lyrical fit for the music of “Warm By the Fire:”
“It really was very difficult to find something for that music. I tried so many different things, and I eventually hit on the basic idea of what became the song. I sent it to Chris one night, and then the following morning, I sent him another email saying, ‘Don’t even listen to that rubbish,’ and he said, ‘No, I’ve listened to it already, and it’s not rubbish. This is it. You’ve got it.’ I’m happy we got where we did with ‘Warm By the Fire. It’s nice to have a slightly more aggressive piece for a change.”
For more on the new album, and to see Cole’s U.K. tour dates, head over here.
Check out (p)remixes of “Wolves” below:
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- Lloyd Cole drops “(p)remixes” of “Wolves” — closing track off new album “On Pain”
- Lloyd Cole to release new solo album “On Pain” in June, tour UK later this year
- Lloyd Cole and the Commotions’ ‘Collected Recordings 1983-1989’ getting vinyl release
- Lloyd Cole collects first 4 solo albums, ‘lost’ 5th LP, unreleased demos in new box set
- Lloyd Cole announces U.S. dates in February, prepping 6-disc Commotions box set
I’m ready to be heartbroken