COTE’s new single ‘Cruel’ is a soft, dreamy respite from a stormy, chaotic world. Gentle pedal steel fills space in the verses, creating soft sonic clouds while bold, distorted electric guitar riffs blast through them on the choruses. The instrumentation almost sounds like a more meandering, country-oriented War on Drugs. Her vocal timbre is somehow simultaneously haunting and soothing, offering gentle, measured observation, and raw unbridled emotion when it soars at the song’s climax. COTE played her first live performance (with band) at the Mercury Lounge on March 29th, but you’ll be able to see her again live at Alphaville on May 11th. – Andrew Strader, Photo Credit: Jen Trahan
