I’m listening to Los Angeles-based Colyn Cameron’s newest single “Coolest” as I wander about a downtown park in Toronto, trying desperately to experience the last weeks of summer. As it turns out, it’s the perfect soundtrack to my quest. While the initial sound of “Coolest” is melancholy, it quickly picks up the pace in the second verse. This pushes a wave of cheeriness over my scrambling to hold onto the past days of August, and move forward into September. It's a rhythm to cruise me along into a new season.
Cameron, formerly known as the Vancouver-Oregon based indie-pop collaborative Wake Owl, is gearing up for his upcoming debut solo album Sad & Easy; an album sure to be a continuation of sounds heard in his two latest released singles: “Loss for Words” and “Coolest.” Both songs extract an essence of music of the 1960s and 1970s, pulling techniques of classic rock, folk, and pop. On “Coolest,” Cameron still allows for his indie history to influence the single’s sound. This makes for a truly addictive track. Ironically, the lyrical content of the song dapples along the lines of dependence on something, and the elements surrounding this, as Cameron explains in more depth:
“There is both beauty and great pain that come with addiction,” Colyn comments. “This song is speaking of an acceptance of both, somewhat lightheartedly. There is also a kind of arrogance that comes with the veil of substance and somebody’s complete reliance on a crutch. It’s an interesting thing to prod."
After ten years of moving from destination to destination, Cameron settled in LA and created this sound. “Coolest” is a great intro to his upcoming project, Sad & Easy, dropping October 12th.
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