A side-project of Nice Biscuit co-frontwoman Grace Cuell, Baby Cool drips with psychedelia and should ideally be experienced in the presence of a giant lava lamp.
We appropriately feel submerged in water as The Sea washes in, its keys intro conjuring a heart haze before gently jangling tamba flourishes and enchanting harp strums massage our eardrums. Cuell has deemed Lisa Kelly’s harp playing here “one of the most treasured parts of the record” and we wholeheartedly agree. This opening song and the album’s overall concept were inspired by a daily ritual Cuell implemented to improve her mental well-being while trying to manage some emotional turmoil: “I wrote myself a love letter on a piece of pink handmade paper and I read the letter to myself every morning,” she shared (“pink paper” is thrown into The Sea’s lyrics as well).
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Country Song is soul-achingly lovely – with plaintive slide guitar cradling Cuell’s lonely coos – and Daydream transports us to a tranquil Hawaiian paradise before erupting into a freak, stacks-on instrumental storm.
This record sounds like that section of the Christmas break where you literally forget what day it is – utter bliss. If the going gets tough, chuck Earthling On The Way To Self Love on; it’s bound to slow down your heart rate and make you feel more zen.
Label: Virgin Music
Release date: February 10
Listen by heading here.
