Check Out “Cold & Well-Lit Place,” the Debut Single from Oxbow’s First New Album in a Decade

If you weren’t already excited for Thin Black Duke, Oxbow’s first new album in ten years, then I assume you don’t know Oxbow. All good.  The album’s first single, “Cold & Well-Lit Place,” is an excellent introduction to the group, who are very Mr. Bungle-esque in that all bets are off. “Cold” fucks with the expectations listeners will have as a result of years of listening to standard pop songs; the music builds and builds towards a crescendo that never actually arrives. It sparsely uses string instruments and horns to great effect. It’s very, very sharp hook comes in the form of a simple, almost James Bond-y guitar lick. And, of course, it has a brilliant vocal performance from Eugene Robinson, who is by turns elegant and anxious and sexy and desperate and possibly in the middle of a meltdown.

In other words, it’s not really a metal song, but it is really friggin’ great.

Check out “Cold & Well-Lit Place” below (via The Quietus). Thin Black Duke comes out on May 5 onHydra Head. It will be that esteemed label’s first new release since 2013.