Let Gabriella Cohen take you on a track-by-track journey through her third LP, Blue No More.
On the day Gabriella Cohen released Blue No More, she recommended “taking it for a long walk by a large body of water or through some trees. It wants to be near nature.”
The album is stunning wherever you may listen to it, and like much of her earlier work, Blue No More is deeply referential. To provide a little insight into where these references may originate, we asked Cohen to run through each track on the LP. Read on for her thoughts.
Frangelico Dreams
Inspired after reading Brian Wilson’s autobiography. Written on St Kilda beach, the little Russian bakery on Carlisle, and my kitchen table.
I Just Got So High
The first line came into my head one sunny afternoon in August last year as I was walking down Vulture Street, West End. Summer love, baby. I was pretty excited about the melody line.
Just For The Summer
Summer love coming to end already? Perhaps. Written a few months after I Just Got So High at Crystal Waters about a strange morning in Brisbane. Something like 35 degrees. Too hot. Train station blues.
Was going for something in between Stuck In The Middle With You, California by Joni and some Seinfeld-inspired slap bass for good measure.
But I Wanted To
Penned this one seven years ago, living atop of Highgate Hill with some dear friends. I’ve held onto it for some time but it remained incomplete until I finished it last year.
Son Of A Gun
A little tribute to the corner stores we used to venture to on our way home after a night out. If my memory serves me well… Hank’s Corner Store in New Orleans and a little Bodega in Brooklyn. Great salad rolls.
Water
Wrote in St Kilda, 2019. Does anyone care about dates? I do. I’m sentimental about them, in case you didn’t notice. I hope someone out there is, too. Anyway. This song was a little love letter to myself and to a few dear friends who will forever be eternal Pans.
Seagull
A song written and recorded in the cabin at Crystal Waters. Note the geckos and the creaks and sighs of the nylon I played: my Grandpa’s guitar.
24 Sexton Street
Written about the same time as But I Wanted To, but recorded last year in the cabin. Note the bird sounds. Originally recorded as a demo, but it was proving hard to capture the mood again – so it stuck.
Blue No More
Oh, Blue. Needed some sunshine. A mantra, if you will. This came about real quick. Voice memo snippets featuring children’s birthday party in Balaclava Library, Gideon’s birthday at the Westbury Hotel, some candid whale sounds and ambulance sirens. A subconscious tribute to Velvet Underground’s outtake of Ride Into The Sun.
“The city, where everything seems so pretty
When you’re lonely and tired of the city remember it’s a flower made out of clay
To the city
Where everything seems so ugly
When you’re sitting at home in self pity
Remember you’re just one more person who’s living there.”
Those lyrics have haunted me for years.
Rewind.
Written and mostly recorded in 2016. Nostalgia in an audio time stamp. Been holding onto this one for a while now so it’s nice to have it out. My friend Elspeth called it “deconstructed hip-hop”. I’m going to go with that.
Blue No More is out now. Buy or stream the album here.
