James and the Cold Gun Drop “Fragile”
Photo Credit: Luke Shadrick
Cardiff, Wales-based rock band James and the Cold Gun have released the new single, “Fragile” and it shows the band evolving their sound and exploring darker themes.
James and the Cold Gun was founded by James Joseph, formerly of the pop rock band Holding Absence. Jam sessions with his roommate, James Bliss, led to the two developing a harder sound. With Joseph and Bliss on guitars, Gaby Elise playing bass, and Jack Wrench drumming, the group adopted a more punk rock sound. Taking their name from a Kate Bush song, the band also showed that they were open to other musical influences as well.
It is on their latest single that James and the Cold Gun explores new musical inspirations. On “Fragile” James and the Cold Gun display a 90s rock sound. “Fragile” is highly reminiscent of the early alt-rock of Jane’s Addiction and the grunge of Pearl Jam with distorted electric guitars.
Lyrically, “Fragile” follows the 90s-era emphasis on dark and introspective lyrics. In the first stanza, Joseph sings:
I've been pulling at loose threads
A dark cloud hangs above my head
I've been tearing at the seams
Behind a mask of false esteem
My flailing forward motion is just a fragile facade
How can you 'just be yourself' when you don't know who you
Are?
Throughout the song, Joseph repeats the line, “Am I Just stuck in a hole.” A sense of despair looms over the song giving the track a sensitivity that compliments the heaviness that the band plays on it.
This callback to 90s rock would certainly appeal to Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard who discovered the band. Gossard signed James and the Cold Gun to his label Loosegroove Records which has released all the band’s previous singles and EPs.
James and the Cold Gun self-produced “Fragile.” The track was mixed by Taf Richards and mastered by Ed Brooks. “Fragile” is out now via Loosegroove Records on all digital platforms.
