Loop: Do This Right

Coco

Album: 2
Release Date: 2024
USA


Coco—the project of Maia Friedman, Oliver Hill, and Dan Molad—began as an experiment of sorts; three friends writing songs for nothing other than the ritual of doing so. “There’s a mutual admiration and trust among us,” they share. “It allows a ‘first thought best thought’ mentality.” Their vast and varied individual creative histories—notably with Dirty Projectors, Lucius, and Pavo Pavo—inform an illustrious, collective sensibility for songcraft.

Coco’s highly anticipated sophomore release—starkly titled ‘2’—will be released March 1, 2024 on First City Artists. It’s less a separate installment than a seamless continuation, a sonic sequel, a deeper delve into the colorful moods of Coco. Coco’s debut album was donned with a blurred portrait of Maia, Oliver, and Dan in an underwater tangle, bodies indiscernible. But on the cover of ‘2,’ these figures come into focus, posed on a hillside in bright, hyperreal color. While a thick white border suspends them in negative space, the image becomes clearer, as Coco gradually crystallizes.

Spotify tells me that the artist I listened to most last year was Happy End, one of Haroumi Hosono’s 70s bands. On a longer time scale though, I’ve noticed that for whatever reason the Smog album Supper is a vinyl I’ve put on again and again, since I was about 14 years old. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the single album I’ve listened to most in my life.

Oliver on own looping habits

Will you please tell us about the band and why you named it Coco?

The three of us have been friends since 2012 and made music together in various capacities over the years. The band formed after a casual writing/recording session in 2019 that went shockingly well. Maia suggested the name Coco a few days later and no other names were considered!

It’s the final countdown for your second album. What are some differences between the making of two albums for you? 

The process with the two albums was more similar than different, hence naming it “2” – a second installment. The writing was continuous from the first album, and indeed we wrote a bunch of it before the first album even came out. One difference is that we cracked open the doors a bit to let another voice into the studio (the first one only the three of us touched) – Adrian Olsen engineered and co-mixed some of “2”.

Will you tell us about your no-prep rule? That sounds like an interesting one. 

Yes – we did cheat a bit on this album but generally speaking we like to gather for a few weeks at a time and write songs together from the ground up in the studio. Being on-the-spot and needing to trust each other’s first instincts, both as writers and editors, is a fun challenge.

What are some subjects you talk about in your forthcoming album?

There is no conceptual through-line with the lyrics per se, but we did end up talking about our families a lot – there’s even a song about both Oliver and Maia’s grandpas! (For George and The Swimmer, respectively.) Which turned out to be a nice omen because we are about to embark on a cycle of touring that will be very family-centric, with Maia’s six-month-old daughter in the van. 

We’ve picked Do This Right for our loop-songs series. As you put it, it’s such a wonderful slow-burn. What is the inspiration behind it and how did it come together? 

The kernel of this song was the main hook of the chorus, which Danny wrote as his marriage was on its last legs. During our recording session in Richmond, I got a bad cold and had to spend a day in bed while the others kept working on the songs-in-progress. In bed I wrote the verses, based on my own experience of a relationship ending – so it’s a sort of interesting hybrid of collective and personal. 

Your video for Do This Right is also worth a mention. Such a beautiful one-shot it is! How did the shooting of the video go and how did you end up shooting it in Chicago?

Thank you! My wife grew up in Chicago, so we’ve been spending a lot of time there and I wanted to memorialize this chapter in some way. Overcast autumn on the Great Lakes has a special type of melancholy that suits the song well.

Lastly, one of my favorite questions for my favorite musicians: What do you listen to on repeat?

It’s an interesting question, different than “what’s your favorite music.” Spotify tells me that the artist I listened to most last year was Happy End, one of Haroumi Hosono’s 70s bands. On a longer time scale though, I’ve noticed that for whatever reason the Smog album Supper is a vinyl I’ve put on again and again, since I was about 14 years old. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the single album I’ve listened to most in my life.

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