cherubim.

COLA | Icon

with several pushbacks and a befittingly chaotic promotional schedule, cola’s third album has finally dropped. entitled ‘icon’, the album has already began stirring up attention due to the fact that cola seems to have written and produced every song by himself, marking his first ever release with no outside help- bar two features. 

“for the first time,” cola says of the record “i don’t have a concept. visually, yeah, there’s all the religious imagery, that goes along with the title. but sound wise, i think i’ve managed to make a bunch of songs that sound like they belong together without worrying about telling some elaborate tale. i just made the music that i wanted to make.” 

although the overarching theme of the album seems to be love and it’s inevitable end, which is a lot more personal than we tend to get from cola lyrically, the general sound is more familiar. the record encapsulates an updated, perfected version of cola’s signature sound: dreamy, sleepy, with whispered confessions throughout. “the name of the band is talking heads but you always add a the to the beginning” he quips in the eponymous track, full of the same wit and humorously specific commentary that once defined him. it calls back, in numerous ways, to the boy we started off with way back when tbh tho,,,, erupted online in 2013, who recorded his songs through his mac book in his bedroom. 

throughout cola’s relatively short career, we’ve seen him explore genres some idols wouldn’t touch in the sum of their experience, and yet, it’s where he started off where he seems most at home- floaty, oft-glitchy beats, with an echo-y mix job and a reasonably diy-sounding production. fitting, then, that icon is where cola presents himself as the same boy we met all those years ago after two and a half album’s worth of trying to distance himself from that as much as he possibly could. it’s been a learning journey for cola, one he’s happily invited us in on as he’s taken more and more control of his music, especially as he’s earned his stripes with his (allegedly self-taught) production skills- but if pretty everlasting and f5abb5 were him showing his working, icon is him solving the puzzle.

tracklist

lotus eating machine

animalxing

down

waste of hope

mass text booty call (feat. slade of rave)

getaway barbie jeep

fucked up

ferris wheel

(the?) talking heads

don’t date the dj

athena nebula

rejection (feat. intak of Яiot)

COLA | Barbie Jeep Getaway (ᴄɪɪɪ - ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ - ᴛʜᴇ ᴇᴍᴘʀᴇss)  COLA | Athena Nebula (ᴄɪɪɪ - ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰɪᴠᴇ - ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀs) 

as heathers anxiously await cola’s third album dropping, he’s released two tracks- duel title tracks ‘barbie jeep getaway’ and ‘athena nebula’ ahead of time. both carrying a dreamy, ethereal sound (athena nebula in particular sounding straight from the 80s), it’s hard not to get excited for the full record’s release later today.

both accompanying videos have been released on cola’s official youtube page.

COLA | Don’t Date The DJ (ɪᴄᴏɴ - ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ - ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪᴇʀᴏᴘʜᴀɴᴛ)

having finally clued fans into the details of his third album in the teaser he released last week, cola has released the final ‘pre-single’ leading up to ICON’s drop on 11/11. detailing a happy-go-lucky, but ultimately doomed, summer fling- don’t date the dj, apparently, serves as a warning to his fans- “every dj is a snake, especially if they like edm” he claims in the youtube description. 

perhaps a little heavy handed, the cover of the single features penrose’s ‘the punishment of loki.’ the presence of the snake perhaps says all it needs to. however, the song itself is lyrically a lot more subtle, presenting itself as a sweet love song, albeit with a lurking sense that the romance is finite. the constant references to vacations back it up- the love is momentary and superficial, and when it inevitably comes to a close, it’ll be back to everyday life. 

‘don’t date the dj’ lacks the infectious hook of it’s predecessor, but still floats effortlessly from start to finish. carrying the ambience of a warm summer evening, it just makes one miss the warmer seasons- a shame, then, that the album has been pushed back to so late in the year. 

COLA | Mass Text Booty Call (feat. Slade) (ᴄɪɪɪ - ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ - ᴡʜᴇᴇʟ ᴏꜰ ꜰᴏʀᴛᴜɴᴇ)

following last month’s lotus eating machine, cola has dropped the second ‘chapter’ of the monthly singe series leading up to his third album’s release. mass text booty call is far more upbeat than it’s september predecessor, mixing r&b melodies with cola’s trademark sparkly instrumentals and breathy vox. slade (known as a member of 1nation’s co-ed group rave) acts as the ribbon on the present with his smooth vocals, dueting against cola in the second verse and middle 8 of the song.

the song begins with a skit in which cola acts as a radio presenter, answering an unknown voice’s request for his own song. “band of the decade,” they describe cola, “if you can even call it a band. ‘cause it’s just one guy.”

c3 was originally scheduled for a summer release- made clear on the floridian sunshine vibe of the track. regardless, it’s the perfect song to get ready to. the tarot card/renaissance art theme continues in the single cover (subtitled ‘wheel of fortune’) this time juxtaposing the silliness of the track’s title with the iconic scene of the last supper. 

as of now, the release date and even title of c3 has yet to be announced. 

LISTEN HERE

🕊️ there’s nothing more regal in the world. not than cola, smoking out the window of his dressing room, backstage at kid flash on his birthday. it’s a single moment of lux in flux. it’ll pass, and he’ll wake up tomorrow morning, another year older and another year more fucking confused, with another year’s weight on his shoulders. but tonight is his the wicked and the divine ascension moment. he gets to play at icon.

“to cut a long story short, he was fired from the zoo for indecent exposure.” he muses. he’s talking to fill the air. kid flash may be his castle to be highness in, but it was luxurious by nobody’s standard. he and his guest performers were all allocated one tiny back room to get ready in together- and cola was one of those people who just couldn’t sit in silence. he wasn’t even listening to himself talk, and when he extinguishes his cigarette- adding another burn mark to the windowsill he’d been defacing since he was fifteen years old, he allows the quiet of a finished story to wash over him. 

🕊️ “don’t you just hate the environment?” he drawls. y’know- funny- cola had often been accused of, on occasion, saying stupid things. was this one of them? sure. but it’s how he felt. he said he felt. his fingers drum over the furry pink steering wheel of his slick pink jeep, and he resists the urge to honk his horn at the protesters blocking the road. stopping out for lunch with kylie wasn’t supposed to take too long- fifteen minutes at most. and yet, here he was, thirty minutes late to the studio. ‘cause suddenly, the youth of seoul had decided to worry about the ozone layer or whales or whatever other shit cola can’t really bring himself to care about- cause he knows he’ll be dead before it gets the chance to effect him. staring pensively (he looks super sad, because he’s hoping the protesters will see him and move) out the window, he presses his fingers to plumped lips, pulling back with a smooch- sending a big, lovely kiss into the air and all the way up to the tru-blu. “for global warming.” he clarifies. “i’m hoping she’ll do me a solid and send down some minibus-hailstones. clear the path, you know?” 

[ sms. ] i have no idea what the fuck raspberry ripple is but it sounds like a trip and i want to get in on it [ sms. ] i was gonna say- i’ve seen your fridge. your eating habits are as atrocious as mine lmao.  [ sms. ] okay but… web md is questionable af because it makes everyone think they’re having a heart attack or some shit like that. pretty sure i googled a rash i had once and it said i had leukemia so i will be staying far away from that part of the internet Thank You Very Much TM [ sms. ] yeah i don’t think that’s how it works tbh but maybe i should slow down on the ice cream. just a little bit. 

[ sms. ] dude i just had cayan vanilla ice cream for the first time and it was fucking mindblowing [ sms. ] where has this shit been my entire life i am in heaven [ sms. ] i’m gonna end up buying this shit in bulk and making it my new diet

COLA | Lotus Eating Machine (ᴄɪɪɪ - ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ - ᴊᴜᴅɢᴇᴍᴇɴᴛ)

bar a few tweets, it is with no real announcement or teaser that cola surprises with the first single (or chapter, as he’s calling it) of his upcoming third album- of now known only as “c3.” titled lotus eating machine- inspired by the lotus eaters of greek mythology, who were so addicted to narcotic flowers that they were trapped in their own hallucinations, the track resembles cola’s early work, however it carries a far more melancholy and sinister tone, and the lyrical content is a much more raw and personal than we’ve come to expect from the rising star- a highlight being ‘i’ll write myself a letter, hope i get better / i’ll do anything to please the crowd’. the singer has said of the song: “it’s the epilogue of my last album and the prologue to this one. c2 was about me waking up from the ‘boy nymphet’ dream, and this song is about me struggling to stay awake. i touched upon that subject in the song venus from my japanese ep, too.”

combining baglione’s painting ‘sacred love and profane love’ (also known as ‘the divine eros defeats the earthly eros’- a possible analog to the battle between cola’s “deceased” alter ego boy nymphet and his true self) with the ‘judgment’ tarot card,  the track’s album art is already making a stir among fans, too- with many trying to decipher the meaning behind it. at any rate, the single’s subtitle; ‘chapter one - judgement’ implies that the major arcana or at least the concept of tarot cards will play a role in the album’s promotion and concept.

despite the lack of release date issued, it has been announced by crown empire that c3 will be released in late november, with two more ‘chapters’ released beforehand, scheduled for the first saturday of the next two months. the album was originally slated for a july release, but was postponed as cola was working on his upcoming acting debut in the horror movie ‘jawbreaker.’

🕊️ he’s covered in glitter. it’s in his hair, making constellations on his neck, striping the highlight on his cheeks. his jeans were originally distressed, but now they’re grieving- holes torn so wide that they barely even qualify as clothing. it’s been a wild night- the smell of prosecco on his breath would be able to give that away were his state of disarray to give it a chance. it’s a sad sort of beauty- he glows, legs - unarguably his best feature - on full display (there’s glitter on those, too, as well as highlight. it was a full look) stumbling around on his glow in the dark platform sneakers with an itch in his nose. 

it’s an itch he can’t scratch with his cherry red nails. besides, picking your nose is gross.

he’d lost blossom and cas and mallow; who likely would have distracted him from the urge. they won’t be looking for him; not because they’re not good friends. they’re the best friends he could have asked for. but they know what he gets like. and when he’s this drunk, bad cola comes out to play.

he doesn’t even know where he is. somewhere in itaewon. he’s stumbled down more than a few dark alleys, and everything is empty. that is to say, everything is empty until he stumbles down another little closure; and in the glow of the street lights, he can make out broad shoulders; a tall figure, walking in his direction. 

it’s enough of a sight to be scared of, in cola’s current state. strangers approaching, when you’re shitfaced wasted. mysterious man is just passing by, he tells his brain, but his heart doesn’t listen and begins to beat faster instead. his footsteps try to quicken but the platform shoes are a death trap and the threat of twisting an ankle is the threat of not being able to run, and so cola instead just stops, because that’s inconspicuous as it gets. at a halt, doll faced and glassy eyed and covered in glitter and highlighter with legs-on-full-display, he stares. and he really, really, really hopes that it wasn’t It from the novel It approaching because if it was, he’d probably be dead before he could finish the run-on sentence in his brain’s panicked narration and that would be a-

(just kidding, it’s not It from the novel It.)

as if god was trying to say ‘as a matter of fact’, the source of cola’s anxiety passes right under one of the flickery streetlights, and the figure illuminates and reveals itself matter of factly as a friend, not a foe, certainly not a nebulous extraterrestrial taking shape as a clown/teenage werewolf/swarm of flying leeches- which is good, because he wasn’t down to have any limbs torn off or to have an orgy in the sewers. 

no, as a matter of damn fact, it’s just sean.   

sean is probably somebody to fear. cola doesn’t know anything for sure but he does get a vibe from him, and his vibes are seldom wrong. there’s just something he doesn’t trust, it doesn’t compute in cola’s mental registry. to risk using the same word a third time, something isn’t right about the man. he’s not somebody you’d want to, quite literally, cross in a dark alley. but what makes it funny is, sean is a monster that cola- skinny little cola in all his makeup and his light-up shoes painting the alley floor rainbow colours- has tamed. 

when dealing with deprived people, you see, it’s important to remember that most of them would do anything for a little bit of affection. 

“what a dumb place for our paths to cross.” the words try to drip from his mouth like honey, but remember, he’s a little drunk, so it’s not the most mielleux utterance. “funny though, i think you’re gonna come in handy tonight.”

throwback to that aforementioned itch in his nose. here’s somebody that has (suspected) loose morals and no real notoriety by face; he’s exactly what’s needed- a bridge between coke and cola, one that wont collapse underneath rainbow light sneakers and drop him into an ocean of scandal and public statements about thinking it was sherbet, honest. 

“i need you-” he says, moving closer, swaying slightly under the influence of that fucking prosecco. “-to procure me an... illegal substance. i can give you the details of the dealer. i can set it up, i just need you to get it from him to give to me. i’ll even share.”