The soulful alternative sounds of Long Beach, Calif.’s Cold War Kids is coming to Eugene tomorrow night.
The band, which began in 2004, is made up of members Nathan Willett (vocals, piano and guitar), Jonnie Russell (vocals, guitar and keyboard), Matt Maust (bass, guitar) and Matt Aveiro (drums, percussion).
After the release of its debut LP “Robbers & Cowards” in 2006, Cold War Kids garnered huge hype from the alternative music scene and eventually the mainstream with hits like “Hang me Up to Dry” and “Hospital Bed.”
Almost five years since the release of “Robbers & Cowards,” Cold War Kids released its latest album, “Mine is Yours.”
Front man and lead vocalist Willet, who defines Cold War Kids’ unique style with his piercing but passionate bluesy voice, said that the process of writing and recording the latest album was quite a departure from the first.
“The first two albums, we recorded them quickly and spontaneously,” Willet said. “This one we wanted to spend a lot more time on recording … fooling around with a lot more instruments.”
Over the years, Cold War Kids has evolved its sound from what Willet described as loose and jangly, to tighter rhythms and vocal pitches.
The symphonic sounds on “Mine is Yours” is quite a contrast to the slow “Summertime” feel of “Robbers & Cowards,” but some of the bluesy song style is still evident on the latest album.
One of Willet’s favorite songs on the album, “Cold Toes on The Cold Floor,” is an example.
“(The song) has changed since recording,” he said.
Since performing it live, he’s said that the song has loosened up from its recorded version on the album.
The band’s lyrics have evolved quite a bit too.
Take the song “Hang Me Up To Dry” from 2006: “Now hang me up to dry / You wrung me out / Too too too many times.” The song, Willet said, was about a relationship at a breaking point, with no answers for what to do.
That kind of lyricism doesn’t show up as often on their latest album. Instead, the lyrics on this album, Willet said, hit closer to home. They were inspired by Willet and his friends in their thirties, struggling in committed relationships.
Willet, who said he’s in a committed relationship himself, croons on the title track “Mine is Yours,” “There was no other way / To let you in here to stay / We had to give it away.”
The album was produced by Jacquire King, who helped catapult the works of artists such as Kings of Leon.
The struggle Cold War Kids has dealt with, Willett said, has been “learning how to be a part of commerce but keeping the art. (The) most important thing is learning how to evolve.”
For fans who love the looser sounds and erratic energy from the first album, Willett said the band’s concerts will have a lot of frenetic energy, spontaneity and punk influences on stage, featuring music from all past three albums as well as new material.
[email protected]