Austin Indie Psych-Rockers Cold Jackets Drop Melodic Earworm With ‘Be The Way’

The heavily progressive and psych-rock influenced duo Cold Jackets is gearing up for a March 11th album release, and is kicking it off with their most recent single, the psychedelically melodic “Be The Way”.

Cold Jackets is made up of long time friends Mark Henne and Adam Johnson, who have holed up in the Live Music Capital of The World, Austin, Texas. The two spend lots of time back and forth between the U.S. and UK, spreading their unique brand of music both across the pond and within continental borders.

The duo has released ample music in the brief four years they’ve been working together, starting with two EPs in 2018, and now the group has almost a dozen singles and two full-length albums. Their self-titled album, Cold Jackets, was released in 2019, and was followed by Affairs of the Heart in 2020.

In the last year, Cold Jackets has teamed up with James Petralli of White Denim. With Petralli, Henne and Johnson began writing and recording their third full length album. Johnson says of the upcoming release, Health Queen Squeeze, that it’s the band’s “best work to date” and they gave it their all “musically and emotionally for every track.”

The group’s newest single, “Be The Way,” dropped February 25th. The song has a major focus on the lush instrumentals and melodic structures, with steady driving drums and percussion creating a most enticing groove. The soaring vocals fit the vivid and vibrant overall tone of the song, and reels the listener in for a semi-psych thrill ride that is well worth the price of admission. The song is far from a one trick pony, and at no point gets stale.

The lyrics for the song can be a little hard to discern, but their primary message of “either way you try you can be the way you wanted” rings true. With a more clear vocal first verse, and subsequent less prominent vocals over the course of the tune, it is clear the group’s directive on this track is the intricate melodies and harmonies found strategically woven throughout, which is executed marvelously.

With a sound that isn’t easy to find or pigeon-hole, Cold Jackets is creating music that stands out for all the right reasons.