It all began with a lone a cappella cover, but future promise has been building along with bigger, fleshed-out arrangements behind Al Spx ever since. Last month we caught the best live incarnation of Cold Specks yet performing Hoxton Hall’s “Winter Solstice,” and now comes another excellent take from the session. Start with the previous clip, for sure, but if it leaves you wanting more, chase it down with “Hector” above.
Meanwhile, Cold Specks’ debut LP, I Predict A Graceful Explosion, just landed on the shortlist for Canada’s Polaris Music Prize. Before the winner is announced, she’s hitting the road:
The origins of an artist’s moniker don’t always resonate with the nature of the material itself, but London-by-way-of-Canada singer Al Spx’s Cold Specks seems born of a perfectly appropriate passage. Here’s the line she pulled from James Joyce’s Ulysses: “Born all in the dark wormy earth, cold specks of fire, evil, lights shining in the darkness.” Indeed, these tunes feel driven by opposing forces of self-doubt and hope, but at their heart is a more nuanced questioning of faith that hits home on deeper levels upon repeated listens. “Holland” — Cold Specks’ first preview single — leans toward the darkness, complete with an