Best Coast have announced that they will release new album California Nights on May 5 via Harvest Records. The duo (Bethany Cosentino + Bobb Bruno) recorded the album at WAX LTD in Hollywood, California, working with producer Wally Gagel. It’s described a “brighter, more sparkly, more sophisticated, more psychedelic Best Coast album across the board, embodying the rich lightness and stinging darkness of a California state of mind.”
Here’s what Cosentino said about the album:
If you have ever lived in California, you know what nighttime here feels like. You know what the sky looks like when those epic sunsets begin, and you understand that feeling and the way things change when the sun finally sets. In LA, or maybe just personally to me, when the sun sets – I feel like there is a large sense of calmness in the air, and I feel like everything that happened to me prior in the day, whether crappy experiences or good ones, at night, it all goes away and I sink deep into this different kind of ‘world.’
It also ties in with the idea that, in LA, there’s a real darkness that you don’t see unless you know where to look. That’s a theme we very consciously decided to explore and play with when making this record. We related to the idea that things may LOOK or SOUND fun and upbeat, but they may not actually always BE that way – much like our songs. A lot of the writing for this record consisted of me getting to know myself again and remembering where Bethany ended and Best Coast began. I took a much needed step back and I was able to breathe deep for a moment and really focus on what I was doing. The end result of all of that, is California Nights. It’s about a journey, accepting the things you have no control over; it’s about dealing with life like an adult, and at the end of the day, reminding yourself that there really is no reason to be sad, and you have every right to feel okay.
Based on first single and title track “California Nights” the album will be their biggest yet. It captures something personal, yet you feel like you’re hit with this giant wave of melancholy. It reminds me a great deal of Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” another California band. I mean that as a compliment, of course.
I’ve fully embraced this version of Best Coast, and this song is currently paying off dividends.
Listen to “California Nights” below by watching it’s very California music video, directed by Adam Harding.
California Nights Tracklist:
1. Feeling Ok
2. Fine Without You
3. Heaven Sent
4. In My Eyes
5. So Unaware
6. When Will I Change
7. Jealousy
8. California Nights
9. Get Outta My Head
10. Run Through My Head
11. Sleep Won’t Ever Come
12. Wasted Time
Album Trailer:
Best Coast Tour Dates:
3/14/15 Phoenix, AZ @ VIVA PHX Festival
4/11/15 San Antonio, TX @ Maverick Music Festival
6/3/15 Vancouver, BC @ Imperial
6/4/15 Seattle, WA @ Showbox
6/5/15 Portland, OR @ Alhambra Theater
6/8/15 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
6/10/15 St. Louis, MO @ Ready Room
6/12/15 Boston, MA @ Paradise
6/14/15 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
6/16/15 Washington, DC @ 930 Club
6/18/15 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
6/19/15 Detroit, MI @ Majestic
6/20/15 Toronto, ON @ NXNE
6/24/15 Dallas, TX @ Granada
6/26/15 San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park
6/27/15 Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern
Join the conversation