Ladan Hussein, the woman who records and performs as Cold Specks, is quietly intense. On Fool’s Paradise (Arts & Crafts), her third album, Hussein’s music is stripped down to the essentials. Soft, mournful synthesizers drift through a melancholy space, with elusive percussion accents in the background. Her hushed, jazz-inflected vocals are full of passionate yearning, the sound of a soul on the verge of tears or explosive anger. “This is a deeply personal album,” says the Toronto-based Hussein. “It deals with a variety of topics from self-love, identity and diaspora dreaming during the apocalypse. I wrote most of the record in a period where I was feeling as though I needed to detach from the world, for the sake of my own sanity. The album is a brutally honest document of it all.” Hussein will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on her.
Hussein: Apathy during the apocalypse is the goal. Switch it off and sigh. Here are songs to keep you warm during the disconnection process. (You can keep up with my Paradise Playlist on Spotify.)
Rob is probably the most talented person I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, and Roots Manuva so cool it hurts. (Flashing light years flashing right here.) I did some arrangements and vocals for Massive Attack a while back. The creepy choral arrangement on “Dead Editors” is mine. A great deal of the sounds on my new record came to life after working with Rob and getting a glimpse into his working process. Massive Attack are one of my favourite bands, and I probably listen to “Safe From Harm” once a day. Endless love and respect.
