Cold Reading Are All About Time
Cold Reading certainly cannot be accused of lacking ambition or courage. Their new album “Zyt”, their second, is a concept album in the unashamedly old-fashioned sense. It comes in four parts spread over two vinyl albums, and is housed in a sumptuously produced old-school sleeve.
“Zyt” means “time” in Swiss German, and “time” is, indeed, the theme of this expansively conceived magnum opus. Part one deals with our attitude to the past and the memories it holds. Part 2 takes a look at our “Present Tense”, and part 3, rather unsurprisingly, is devoted to a “Future Continuous”. The fourth side of the double package, finally, is dedicated entirely to a reading of a short story from singer Michael Portmann.
Tightly woven meshes of chiming guitar, driving drums, big melodies, and lyrics with a philosophical bent, form the musical essence of the five-piece from Lucerne. Listing bands like The Hotelier, Death Cab for Cutie, Modern Mouse and The National as influences, their sound changes and develops in the course of the album to match the theme of time passing. Starting from a purist guitar sound on side 1, recorded on analogue equipment, as time moves on, synths, loops and samples are added to the mix later on.
Produced by producer Jan Kerscher (Mutiny on the Bounty, The Intersphere, Like Lovers) at Ghost City Studios, “Zyt” was released on 31 January by the Berlin-based Krod Records.
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