Cola have returned with a new song. Below, you can hear "Bitter Melon" from the trio of ex-Ought members Tim Darcy and Ben Stidworthy and U.S. Girls/the Weather Station drummer Evan Cartwright.
The mesmeric "Bitter Melon" is chiefly guided by a rhythm section in lockstep and, per a release, is "an intriguing suggestion" of where Cola could take things following their 2022 debut album Deep in View.
In the physical world, "Bitter Melon" can be found as a 7-inch flexi disc via Fire Talk Records, accompanied by a zine that can be found in record stores worldwide. You can catch a glimpse of the package below, before heading out to grip it yourself using Cola's "Bitter Melon" store map.
Vocalist-guitarist Darcy shares that the vocals and lyrics of "Bitter Melon" came "naturally from the backlit, brooding atmosphere of the music," further explaining as follows:
I wrote what was almost a piece of fiction (fleshed out in the accompanying zine we've released) where a person is up in the middle of the night studying 'the gloss' — additional comments written in the margins of a book. In my mind the text was like the rind of a fruit surrounding something, maybe even written at an earlier point by the reader themselves. The motorik drums and chiming guitars are guided by the bass on this song, something not unusual for us but the bass really provides a compelling longform melody on this song. The track has the energy of a full moon or some kind of fertile dark / gaia-facing productive spirit to me.
If you happened to miss Cola's debut in 2022, fear not, for the band delivered Deep in View's deluxe edition last year.
Cola have also mapped out European tour dates for the month of May, which you can find via the band's official website.
