Cold Specks ‘Fool’s Paradise’ LP Out Now, FADER Feature w/ "Wild Card" Video + International Tour
Cold Specks
Fool’s Paradise LP Out Now via Arts & Crafts
Ladan Hussein Discusses New Album And
Shares New “Wild Card” Video via FADER
+ CBC Music “First Play”
FOOL’S PARADISE WORLD TOUR 2017
Kicks Off In the UK This Weekend!
“I’ll be there for you/Don’t know why”: this is the refrain of “Wild Card,” the new Cold Specks single, and it sounds like an exhale of self-doubt — sometimes a giver just gives, whether or not the recipient is deserving.” – The New York Times
“Cold Specks Drew From The Richness Of Somali Music To Make Her Best Album” – FADER
“[Fool’s Paradise] is a slow burn of a track, Hussein’s voice flitting over a syncopated rhythm that ebbs and flows with the song.” – W Magazine
“sad and mournful, but in the most beautiful, soulful ways. In this moment, I cannot think of another song to which I would rather shed a single therapeutic tear.” – Indie Shuffle
“Despite the heavy topic, there’s a hope and lightness to [Wild Card]… ” – Consequence of Sound
“Beautifully soulful … the themes of war, dislocation, and the redemptive power of music have rarely been so prescient” – Clash
“extracts great depths of emotion time and again” – Under The Radar
photo credit: Neva Wireko
Out today via Arts & Crafts, Fool’s Paradise is Ladan Hussein’s most personal work yet, intimately exploring her identity as a Somali-Canadian woman. Known on stage as Cold Specks, the new album encapsulates the naturalness of existing during difficult times. Hussein recently learned about her family’s former life in Somalia. During the writing process, she dug deep into grainy VHS recordings found online of Somali musicians, songs and videos that had survived war. The album has received acclaim from The New York Times, Indie Shuffle, Consequence of Sound, SPIN, Stereogum, W Magazine, FADER and many more. Today she reveals the new video for album single “Wild Card”, directed by Mac Boucher (Grimes, Tei Shi, HANA), alongside a feature with FADER.
WATCH AND SHARE “WILD CARD” VIDEO HERE
https://youtu.be/FbVV91FQC3w
Cold Specks is set to launch the FOOL’S PARADISE WORLD TOUR 2017 with an extensive European tour and a slew of North American dates with stops in NYC, Los Angeles, DC, Philadelphia, Denver, Nashville and more! Full dates can be found below.
“My parents never talked much about life in Mogadishu growing up” Hussein explains, “the war split up my family, scattered them around the world, left many missing, and those that made it were forever changed.” Saling her way to shore after grueling trial, error, and musical acclaim – Fool’s Paradise is the sound of finding home, identity, and self-love.
FOOL’S PARADISE WORLD TOUR 2017
European Dates
9/30: Newcastle, UK @ The Cluny (TICKETS)
10/1: Leeds, UK @ Lending Room (TICKETS)
10/02: Glasgow, UK @ King Tut’s (TICKETS)
10/03: Manchester, UK @ Night & Day (TICKETS)
10/04: Bristol, UK @ Cube (TICKETS)
10/05: London, UK @ Omeara (TICKETS)
10/06: Paris, FR @ Supersonic (FREE)
10/07: Brussels, BL @ Witloof Bar (TICKETS)
10/09: Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet (TICKETS)
10/10: Cologne, DE @ Yuca (TICKETS)
10/11: Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher (TICKETS)
10/12: Aarhus, DK (TICKETS)
10/13: Copenhagen, DK @ Vega (TICKETS)
10/14: Berlin, DE @ Musik & Frieden (TICKETS)
10/15: Frankfurt, DE @ Brotfabrik (TICKETS)
10/16: Munich, DE @ Milla (TICKETS)
10/18: Vienna, AT @ Arena (TICKETS)
10/19: Zurich, CH @ Theatre Gessneralle @ Stall 6 (TICKETS)
10/20: Geneva, CH @ La Graviere (TICKETS)
10/21: Rome, IT @ Quirinetta (TICKETS)
North American Dates
11/2: Somerville, MA @ ONCE Somerville (TICKETS)
11/3: Washington, DC @ Black Cat (TICKETS)
11/4: Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s (TICKETS)
11/5: Richmond, VA @ Hardywood Park Craft Brewery (FREE)
11/6: Durham, NC @Motorco Music Hall (TICKETS)
11/7: Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade Purgatory (TICKETS)
11/8: Nashville, TN @ The High Watt (TICKETS)
11/9: St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House (TICKETS)
11/10: Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge (TICKETS)
11/11: Denver, CO @ Lost Lake Lounge (TICKETS)
11/13: San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar (TICKETS)
11/15: Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo (TICKETS)
11/16: San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop (TICKETS)
11/17: Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge (TICKETS)
11/18: Seattle, WA @ Barboza (TICKETS)
11/20: Vancouver, BC @ Fox Cabaret (TICKETS)
11/22: Calgary, CA @ Commonwealth Bar & Stage (TICKETS)
11/23: Edmonton, CA @ The Needle Vinyl Tavern (TICKETS)
11/24: Regina, CA @ The Exchange (TICKETS)
11/25: Winnipeg, CA @ The Good Will Social Club (TICKETS)
11/27: Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center (TICKETS)
11/28: Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle (TICKETS)
11/29: Detroit, MI @ Marble Bar (TICKETS)
11/30: Toronto, CA @ Virgin Mobile Mod Club (TICKETS)
12/1: Montreal, CA @ Phi Center (TICKETS)
12/2: Ottawa, CA @ The 27 Club (TICKETS)
12/6: Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Art Space (TICKETS)
12/7: Brooklyn, NY @ Baby’s All Right (TICKETS)
In 2015, Hussein followed her critically acclaimed debut LP, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion, with the release of Neuroplasticity, both of which were nominated for the Polaris Music Prize with the former also earning a JUNO Award nomination for Breakthrough Artist Of The Year. Between albums, when Cold Specks wasn’t writing or touring, Hussein was pinballing between asks from an enviable roll call of collaborators. She was asked to work on Moby’s album Innocents and was invited to play with Joni Mitchell at the singer’s 70th birthday alongside the likes of Herbie Hancock. She contributed to Ambrose Akinmusire’s 2014 record for Blue Note and Swans’ 2014 album To Be Kind. These last two partnerships left a significant impression on Neuroplasticity resulting in the indomitable Swans founder Michael Gira and Akinmusire to both appear on the album. Most recently, she has worked with Massive Attack on the track “Dead Editors” featuring Roots Manuva from their 2016 Ritual Spirit EP.
Website | Instagram | Spotify | Facebook | Twitter