Cola – Hedgesitting

Montreal trio Cola — Tim Darcy (vocals/guitar), Ben Stidworthy (bass), and Evan Cartwright (drums) — announce their third album, Cost of Living Adjustment, out May 8 on Fire Talk Records. The acronym is intentional: C.O.L.A. functions almost as a self-titled record. Lead single “Hedgesitting” is out now.

Cola built their reputation on what Darcy calls “tasteful minimalism”, but Cost of Living Adjustment is the band’s most maximalist record to date. “Hedgesitting” is where that shift lands first: live drums stacked on a sample loop, guitars running warm and overdriven against chiming synth tones. Press materials compare it to a deconstructed Disintegration-era Cure b-side, with a debt to Sarah Records — which is close enough as a shorthand, even if the song is more exuberant than icy. It opens with Darcy singing “When you were young, you came to make it”, and there’s a nostalgia in it that the band navigates without blurring into sentiment.

The other shift is in the vocals. Earlier Cola records leaned on conversational singing — that half-spoken, half-sung delivery Darcy carried over from his time in Ought. On this album, melody takes over. His voice sits alongside the instrumentation rather than above it. “It’s not,” he jokes, “like we’re making a Cocteau Twins song” — but the intention is clear: melody guides the lyrics this time, not the other way around.

The band’s writing process stays the same: members work separately, then collide in the studio. “Hedgesitting” started as a chord idea from Darcy, got developed together, and was remixed by Stidworthy right before they hit record. Cola formed after Ought disbanded in 2020, with Darcy and Stidworthy bringing in Cartwright (known for his work with U.S. Girls). Deep In View (2022) and The Gloss (2024) followed, and Cost of Living Adjustment is the third instalment. No tour dates announced yet.

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Tracklist:

1. Forced Position
2. Hedgesitting
3. Fainting Spells
4. Haveluck Country
5. Satre-torial
6. Polished Knives
7. Much of a Muchness
8. Third Double
9. Conflagration Mindset
10. Favoured Over The Ride
11. Skywriter’s Sigh