Cold Dawg - I'll Drown From This Earth

From the defiant scream that kicks off opening cut “Gorgeous,” the album rips in what singer and principal songwriter Matthew Wainwright describes as “go for it” mode: holding back nothing, wasting no time. Although the bulk of the songs were written in 2022, recording sessions weren’t booked until March of 2024, which allowed ample time to refine and distill the music’s hooks, heaviness, and haze.  

Cold Dawg's contemporary vision of shoegaze manifests intriguingly in outlier moments, like the hushed, whirlpool reverie of “Tappan,” or the vaporous, slow-grind downtempo of ““Nudism”” (complete with regal piano outro). Theirs is a muse as vivid as it is varied, from Loveless, to Drake, post-hardcore and Beach House.