Based in Greater Manchester, Hello Cosmos established itself a decade ago as a collective of creatives with an ever revolving line-up of contributors. Led by songwriter and bass player Ben Robinson, the co-founder of the celebrated bluedot & Kendal Calling festivals, mainstay members across their decade to date also include his drumming powerhouse brother Simon Robinson, plus the inimitable Angela Chan on viola/synths/vocals - notably a member of the Mercury-shortlisted Lanterns on the Lake and a touring member of Placebo. Hello Cosmos’ ambitious sophomore album features a long list of collaborators, and takes influence from all corners of the globe, with studio recording sessions having taken place in New York City, Los Angeles, Kampala, Leeds, Manchester, and of course at their Welkin Mill Studio in Stockport. The songs of ‘Come Out Tonight’ are united by recurrent messages of both urgency and hope, as the world we live in spirals beyond recognition. A record that rallies to reclaim love from the clasps of the corporate advertising machine, and idle mindspace from the deathly doomscroll of toxic digital spaces; these eight unconventional, electrifying, amorphous tracks are intended to invoke visceral feelings of real humanity, communal connection, and the unlimited possibilities of unprogrammed passion. Of the upcoming record, frontman Ben Robinson explains: “A lot of the upcoming record is about finding the strength to switch off digital screens and go out and live. It’s becoming more and more normal to stay in, comatosed by ultraprocessed food and algorithms firing shallow dopamine hits, keeping us all hooked on a short wavelength, gradually becoming dumber, hopeless and unhealthy… We all need to wake each other up, get off the cool aid of digital apps, social media and algorithmic scrolling.” From the strident “Joy is the way” sets their latest campaign with a bonafide post-rock time-bomb. From the disparate and grungy distortion that laces its opening bars, Robinson goads the song into a thunderous ascension at a marching pace, his teasing cat-calls of “HELLO… HELLO…” cutting through the noise like a wake-up call to the comatose masses. From there on, ‘Come Out Tonight’ surges through Rage Against The Machine-esque rant-metal melees about the music industry (“Gig Buddies”), and warped groove-punk pleas to unplug from the matrix (“The Hot Seat”); through atonal alt-rock diatribes railing against the digital and political establishment (“FUK ZUK”), to frenzied pan-continental pogoing in the likes of “Echo A2Z”. A record that takes Hello Cosmos firmly beyond the electroclash inspired limits of previous record ‘Dream Harder’, ‘Come Out Tonight’ shoots for the stars with a glorious cacophony of esoteric sounds that finds them daring to defy classification and conformity at every turn. Relentless in its execution, it’s a record that only stops to catch its breath with the chill-wavey atmospherics of “Awake and Bake”, a cathartic moment of clarity reflecting on first steps and friendships. And once everything is off its chest, closing with the triumphant “Old friends know”; a gospel-guided, string-laden interstellar epic that nods to the intricate majesties of The Smile or Spiritualized.
TRACK LISTING
Side A
1 - Joy Is The Way - 4:55
2 - Grind Into The Shrine - 2:58
3 - Spin The Wheel - 2:55
4 - Turn Off The News - 4:24
5 - Echo A2Z - 2:58
6 - Gig Buddies - 2:45
Side B
7 - FUK ZUK - 5:25
8 - Hot Seat - 3:25
9 - Awake & Bake - 4:36
10 - Black Gloss - 3:06
11 - Old Friends Know - 5:24
