Elvis Depressedly - "Pepsi/Coke Suicide"

Stream: Elvis Depressedly - "Pepsi/Coke Suicide" Elvis Depressedly has dropped a new track from the upcoming release, Holo Pleasures and it really feels like steady improvement.

Mat Cothran has been recording this album with his full band and it really shows with the fullness of the sound. In many ways the instrumentation feels warm on this track, but if you are familiar with Cothran at all you know that his lyrics are going to directly conflict with that. It creates an air of uneasy comfort and it really makes the song stick out, while showing just how much creative content can come from this guy. In the end there is always an element of some kind of beauty within this music too, something that I have been unable to resist so far.

Various Artists - 420 Love Songs (First 40)

Some of today's most melancholy and brutally honest songwriters have had their demos gathered from the 420 Love Songs Tumblr into a bandcamp compilation of infinite, sadness.

On here you can expect to see plenty from Sam Ray (Teen Suicide, Ricky Eat Acid, Julia Brown) who runs the Tumblr as well as his known friends like Mat Cothran (Coma Cinema, Elvis Depressedly), Infinity Crush, Happy Trendy, and some others. This is a compilation of song demos so you should know before going in that they are ridiculously lo-fi and distorted in some cases, but the way I look at it is it just adds to the whole theme of sad, longing love. This is still an going project so if you like what you hear here be sure to check out the Tumblr for more.

Elvis Depressedly- Mickey's Dead

South Carolinian Matt Cothran, a.k.a. Coma Cinema, a.k.a. Elvis Depressedly, has a new set of tracks out proving his worth as a sad, sad songsmith. He's diversifying the sounds he works with as well, making use of more synths, vocal effects, harmonica, and even throwing some cello in there for good measure.

Gremlins- Self-Titled

An odd collaboration between Mat Cothran (Coma Cinema), Patrick Jeffords (Toro Y Moi), Katie Lee (Braids), and Sam Ray (Ricky Eat Acid) has released a five-track EP. It's backed by a lot of dark, sleazy synthesizers that produce some really appealing jams. Vocals are primarily performed by Cothran, and the lyrics seem to be very much like his other projects as well.

The bass and drums create some pretty compelling head bobbing grooves as well. As gloomy and dark as the humming synthesizers can be there is still a lighter side to the arrangements, giving these tunes far more dimension and depth. This is not at all a collaboration that I was expecting, but after hearing it I definitely want more.

Elvis Depressedly- “Waves of Bad Intention”

Stream: Elvis Depressedly- "Waves of Bad Intention" Mat Cothran--a singer-songwriter known mostly for his work under the name Coma Cinema--has recently been pushing a side project of his, Depressedly. Under the Depressedly name, Mat has released a new track.

This project's past releases are very similar to Coma Cinema, and usually just a bit more experimental with vocal distortion. “Waves of Bad Intention” is different from of all of these previous releases; it was recorded professionally in a studio. This may worry some since the raw sound is part of the appeal of Cothrans past work. However, the honest, depressed emotions are not lost in this new hi-fi quality.

The clarity improves along with the depth and texture of the Depressedly's sound. Nothing is blown out or drowning out the vocals like in the past, instead the guitars and drums just help put further emphasis on the lyrics.

There is more info to come in the future from these studio recordings. Until then Cutters Only, The Ontological Anarchy of Elvis Depressedly a re-mastered collection of the projects Bandcamp releases is available on itunes now.

Coma Cinema- Blue Suicide

On Coma Cinema's third album lo-fi production backs up some real-life sadness on about 15 songs. It's a little spotty, but nothing really sticks around long enough to disappoint. Some songs here really did hit me as memorable on my first listen, though. If you're down with the sounds of Simon Joyner and Elliott Smith, it's worth a try. Mat Cothran is definitely on his way to something impressive.

WATCH THE REVIEW

Coma Cinema- "Blue Suicide"

Video from the lo-fi solo project of Mat Cothran, Coma Cinema. He's just released his third album, which is titled after this track. The guy releases all of his albums for free as well, so no complains about that.