Coldwave is a genre of music — an icy post-electroclash goth thing with blank voices and drum machines and evil synths. But Coldwave is also the name of an Australian band that emphatically does not make coldwave. This particular Coldwave is a six-piece group that started in Adelaide four years ago, and they make a big, dramatic form of indie rock. They’ve been getting love from the Australian radio network Triple J, and now they’ve got an impressive new two-song single.
In Harrison Evans, Coldwave have a sardonic, sing-speaking bandleader whose delivery recalls the current stars of UK post-punk. But Coldwave’s instrumentation is vast and layered, with guitars and horns wailing at the heavens in ways that recall the huge Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene records that came out 20 years ago. It’s an interesting combination, and you can hear both sides of it on “The Ants” and “Italia ’06,” the two songs that Coldwave recently recorded with Amyl And The Sniffers collaborator Bonnie Knight.
“The Ants” b/w “Italia ’06” follows a few singles and EPs, the most recent of which is 2023’s No Conflict. On “The Ants,” Harrison Evans says, “We returned to a really comfortable place writing this song. It’s built around reminiscing on childhood and is a bit of a soul-searching expedition around the realisation that you’re one of many.” Below, check out the Conor Mercury-directed video for “The Ants” and the slow-building B-side “Italia ’06.”
“The Ants” b/w “Italia ’06” is out now on P.A.K. Records.
