We’ve spent the past few weeks familiarising ourselves with Cope, and have loved what we’ve found.
Whether Cope is delivering grungy R&b on stellar tunes like EGO or waxing philosophical on being “[un]afraid to talk about my problems,” the Sydney-based musician stands as a testament to the complexity of art, with his resulting work speaking for itself.
Arriving today (February 9), Cope’s new album i sold my car to make this is every bit as candid as its title suggests.
A collaboration with fellow musician Quiet Frankie, the 12-track project wears its heart on its sleeve, spanning genres with a sense of carefree restlessness and diving into themes of grief, jealousy and joy.
Below, Cope swings by Happy Mag for a track-by-track guide through his new collaborative album. Catch the full track breakdown below, and scroll down to listen to Cope’s new album i sold my car to make this.
Delta
Stems from Quiet Frankie’s experience being on season 5 of The Voice and auditioning in front of Delta.
After not getting through the blind auditions, his friends back home only brought up the experience if it was in the form of a joke or a game such as “never have I ever failed a voice audition” to which Frankie would take a swig.
In the song, Frankie raps the line “only signed up to the voice as a joke for the boys” as a nod to this experience. Frankie, however, did not only sign up to the voice as a joke for the boys.
Spirit Thoughts
Frankie writes the song Spirit Thoughts based on incessant thoughts he has whilst intoxicated.
During the song Frankie slurs his words and then clears them up to try and emulate moments of clarity in a drunk state. In short, the song is about a pub, a girl and anxiety.
Adonis
In this song Frankie writes about the material world and the never ending need to attain consistent new things, spirituality, alcohol and ghosts.
Frankie named this song after Adonis from the Creed movies with lyrics such as “I don’t wanna be a rap star, I wanna be like adonis” meaning he doesn’t want to be successful musician for the cars, clothes, and money but he wants to attain his own idea of what success is in the industry by mastering one’s craft, moving people and helping people.
Untimely Death
Frankie wrote Untimely Death after giving up on the dream of being a musician, selling all his recording equipment and taking over a year long break from music after almost signing to a major label and then having covid hit and crush any chance of that happening.
“things like this come around once or twice if you’re lucky, I felt like it would never happen again and I couldn’t handle another loss.” Frankie said
“But then one day I was laying out in my backyard soaking up the sun and drinking a Swan draft and I heard a voice in my head that told me to record a song”. Frankie explained how he replied to his intrusive thoughts saying “how, I don’t have a mic?”.
After questioning his sanity, Frankie checked his bank account to see his networth of $25.
He jumped on Facebook marketplace and found a blue yeti USB mic for $25 in his area. He got up off the lawn, messaged them the classic “Hi is this still available” and upon hearing it was available, drove to pick it up.
This was the song he recorded that day.
Untimely Death is about the urge to say what you need to say to people you love whilst you can, in case tomorrow never comes.
Somewhere where the city lights glow
In this song – Frankie is changing the tone, recalling the whirlwind of youth, late nights, cheap goon bags and club lights. This song is the blurred haze you remember after a night out.
In this song Frankie touches on his voice experience again saying “I tried to put the city on the map, all that ever did was make them laugh at me.”
Trev
Frankie touches on the loss of his grandfather with a deep honesty explaining frankies disappointment in himself for not having been there as much as he could have at the end.
This heartbreaking song explores uncomfortable and vulnerable territory most people try to avoid.
We don’t talk no more
This song is about becoming distant to people you were once close to. It’s about bad communication, differences in choices, loss of love, grief, jealousy and pain.
Now I know (feat. Marlow Wilton)
Frankie collaborates with Marlow Wilton on this track to pull at your heart strings and make you crave ice cream.
Frankie discusses the moment you meet someone and you almost get a glimpse into the future and know they will be there. It’s about change and growth alongside somebody. It’s about being better for somebody.
Marlow comes in with a verse so beautiful you’ll feel like you’re floating in a cathedral.
I don’t deserve you
This song is about making mistakes, feelings of being unworthy, love, alcohol and ultimately trying to be deserving of love you’re given.
I found you
This is once again inspired by that youthful energy Frankie loves to establish, the entire song stems from a house/dance beat which ends up building up in layers with meaningful lyrics.
When I drive past you
This is one of the songs where we both have vocals. This song touches on living in a small town and not being able to escape the impending heart wrenching moment of seeing somebody you once had in your life.
The lyrics are simple yet deep, emotive and impactful in this tear jerking tune.
Cope’s ballad
With a title this inconspicuous you probably wouldn’t be able to guess the song is about loss, grief and the attempts to patch the holes left by loss with alcohol.
The album comes to a perfect close with Cope playing us all out with a gorgeous guitar solo that gives us a feeling of hope as the body of work comes to an end.
