This year’s newest British take on the classic Bruce Springsteen-esque Americana sound comes in the form of Scottish rock band ‘Cold Years’ with their latest EP, ‘Northern Blue’. While many of the band’s contemporaries have delved into this style of music, including Cold Years themselves on previous releases over the years, it’s safe to say on this newest venture into melodic rock, the four piece have proved they know what they’re doing.
The EP kicks off with the spirited rock melodies of ‘Seasons’. Building in from hushed guitars, Lead singer’s Ross Gordon’s delicate and refined vocals takes centre stage before paring off nicely with the energetic, addictive chorus of guitars. While melancholy lives in the nostalgia of the lyrics, there is a bright, appealing optimism to be found in this opener.
‘Miss You to Death’ keeps up the upbeat feel, as the band moves to a more easy going 80’s-inspired mood, complete with a somewhat token pounding drum beat. The raspy allover tones that the band adopt into their songwriting come across as comfortingly familiar, especially as they go into ‘What I Lost’. Here, as they lament on lives of lost love and broken hearts, the track highlights the band’s signature sound with shouts and reminiscences of being young, alongside their musicality that feels as though they’ve been around for years
The fourth and final song on the track listing comes in the shape of the aptly named ‘Final Cut’. Its rounds the EP out nicely with the same big guitars we’ve experience throughout, the same compelling hooks and of course the emotional lyrics.Overall, ‘Northern Blue’ drips with mournful poetics, but even then, Cold Years manages to take on anthemic, guitar heavy rock stylings, regardless of whether that sees the band repeatedly compared against some of their counterparts, both here and across the pond. Though they may not have quite managed to shake off these similarities and associations, this EP better shows that, with the combination of Gordon’s heartfelt delivery and the band’s unique approach to melodic rock, they are indeed getting better and better with every release. Now, it’s up to them to take all their talent and successes and put them into a full length album.