(2021) Cots - Disturbing Body


Review:
Cots, the new project from Steph Yates, represents a more personal style for the Montreal-based artist and the debut album, Disturbing Body, is her most intimate and emotionally complex work to date. While her other projects, Esther Grey and Cupcake Ductape, were more collaborative, Cots is one of her own creations and allows her to adopt a more introspective approach to her song writing. Focusing on the theme of cosmic connectivity and its relation to human attraction, this album shows no fear of exploring obscure topics on both a micro and macro scale. As Yates explains it, “Human bodies are like celestial ones; just as a planet’s course is carved out in relation to others, our course – where we go and what we do – is compelled by forces of attraction.” The album’s title relates to the name given to a planet whose gravitational pull alters another planet’s course, which Yates sees as representing the mysterious nature of love. So, it makes sense that an album exploring such abstract and profound subject matter should also have an equally complex musical style. ‘Disturbing Body’ draws from a wide range of influences and effortlessly blends elements of folk, jazz, classical, and a wonderful inclusion of bossa nova, a style of samba music that she adopted during her time spent in Brazil. She also met up with producer Sandro Perri in Toronto and invited some of the city’s best jazz players to inject their own passion into the album. ‘Disturbing Body’ is the product of a range of geographical and cultural influences, and it most certainly can be heard flowing through each track. The album’s opener, ‘Disturbing Body’, presents a rather melancholic start to the proceedings, with its soft and slightly haunting mix of soft piano chords, horns, cowbells, and guitar, all while Yates’ delicate vocals flow over the top. The opening lyrics: “searching for reasons that you stay away, searching for your disturbing body” openly lay out the theme of cosmic and human connection that permeates the album. It’s a wholly unpredictable and wonderfully eerie introduction to the album and its blend of folk and jazz (along with a range of other subtle influences) sets the tone for what’s to come. Despite the fairly heavy-hearted opening track, ‘Bitter Part of the Fruit’ adopts a slightly more upbeat sound and introduces us to the bossa nova elements of the album, as its plucky acoustic notes compliment Yates’ soft and tuneful cadence. This sound continues into ‘Sun-spotted Apple’, albeit with a slower and cosier feel, while Yates’ poetic lyrics compare the feeling of being in love to the titular bruised fruit. Subtle synths accompany an acoustic guitar and gentle piano notes, while another interjection of jazz instrumental rears its head at the song’s halfway point. At the album’s mid-point, ‘Inertia of a Dream’ brings to mind thoughts of a smoky 1950s bar; perhaps with a troubled trilby-wearing detective questioning the bar staff before having his attention diverted to the stage by the silky-smooth piano notes and soft percussion of this track. Its trippy music video supports the hypnotic lyrics as Yates explores her own subconscious and asks herself “Am I the one who dreams too much?” Next up is ‘Flowers’ and, while the catchy guitar notes may give the pretence of another more upbeat track, its subject matter is a little more morbid. Yates’ opening lyrics cement this: “Flowers on the body dead, flowers I sent, powder on the eyes of them, they’re too young to die.” Yates wanted the song to act as a meditation on death and explained: “I wrote it in response to the bewildering news that someone I used to know had died.” ‘Last Sip’ features a similarly melancholic atmosphere and returns to the slightly haunting style of the album’s opening track. Slow guitar chords blend with wide-spread trumpet notes and sleepy piano chords to bring us one of the most sorrowful moments on the album. Yate’s wistful singing and sombre lyrics emphasise the feeling with lines like: “The saddest hue of desire is undone, watching the feeling expire, till there’s none.” By contrast, the closing track, ‘Midnight at the Station’ returns to the bossa nova style of previous tracks and is arguably the most danceable song on the album. Fittingly, Yates also includes recordings of trains in the background of the track that builds up as it reaches its climax to really immerse you in the picture she’s painting in your mind. Altogether, its dream-like ambiguousness is a perfect conclusion to the album. In keeping with the cosmic comparisons and surreal subject matter explored on the album, ‘Disturbing Body’ provides a beautifully hypnotic experience. Yates’ soothing voice paired with the folk/jazz instrumentals is a match made in heaven and one that’s perfectly placed to explore such abstract themes while still maintaining a suave and urbane feel. Ultimately, ‘Disturbing Body’ is a visceral and complex album that invites the listener to impart their own experiences onto its dream-like vocals and velvety instrumentals.





Track Listing:
1.Disturbing Body 03:10
2.Bitter Part of the Fruit 01:55
3.Sun-Spotted Apple 02:26
4.Bluebird 02:09
5.Inertia of a Dream 04:03
6.Flowers 02:19
7.Salt or Sand 02:31
8.Our Breath 03:06
9.Last Sip 03:07
10.Midnight at the Station 03:42


Media Report:
Genre: indie-folk, indie-pop
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits