Premiere: The Colour Coast, ‘Now I’m an Ocean’

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The Colour Coast (Photo by Edward Ochoa)

L.A. sextet the Colour Coast make urgent, melting-pot indie-rock for a bustling, melting-pot city. The band’s members have roots in Canada, Argentina, El Salvador, Nicaragua and points across the U.S., and, together, Marley Otto, Frank Tobias, Juan Pablo Grado, Kevin Martin, Theron Lynott and Gerry Doot forge a sound that draws from rock, Latin and dance music.

They debuted last year with the EP “Rosado,” which showcased their rhythmically addictive songs and Otto’s sensuous, dusky vocals. With a residency this month at the Hi Hat, the Colour Coast have been unveiling a batch of new songs produced and recorded by Matt Faulkner and Eric Brown of L.A.’s BetaWave Records.

The riffy “Now I’m an Ocean” is the latest and most immediate. It has its origins with guitarist Tobias, after what Otto calls “a smoke-filled, whiskey-driven night with friends at Footsies.”

“The working title/nickname for the song was ‘Scuzzy Disco,’ or ‘Scuzzy’ for short,” she says, “because Frank wanted to take the grimy energy of the punk rock that was playing at the bar that night and infuse it with the Latin rhythms and dance elements that make up our signature sound.”

It’s a slasher of a song with a big idea, and a commanding way to ride the Colour Coast’s wave. The song is officially out on Tuesday.

||| Stream: “Now I’m an Ocean”

||| Also: Stream: “Move”

||| Also: Watch the video for “Walls,” from their 2018 EP

||| Live: The Colour Coast continue their residency with a free show on Tuesday night at the Hi Hat, joined by Aloud and Talk Time. Info.