Cold Weather Company is a self-made success story, having independently released two full-length albums of layered indie folk and building a strong grassroots audience along the way. With their recently announced new album, Find Light, the trio are setting their sights on a natural expansion of the groundwork they’ve already so solidly set. Being the first Cold Weather Company album tracked in an actual studio, the band invited producer Pat Noon (River City Extension) and engineer Alan Douches (Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear) alongside a bevy of instrumentalists to round out their more expansive sound.
Before Find Light’s release on 25 January, the minds behind Cold Weather Company are sharing “Do No Harm” with PopMatters. The new single release from the trio clocks in at just over four minutes and 30 seconds, but manages to make an undeniable impression within that time frame. Featuring vocal harmonies before a darkly serene backdrop of layered instrumentation, the indie folk collective brings forward a rich intricacy and sweetness that speaks well to their latest project’s loftier ambitions.
Cold Weather Company‘s Steve Shimchick tells PopMatters, “‘Do No Harm’ is essentially the sequel to our song ‘Clover’… both inspired by different stages of the same exciting, yet fleeting relationship. Where ‘Clover’ was written during the whirlwind, with those feelings of optimism and hope that a lasting resolution could be found, ‘Do No Harm’ was written after the flame was snuffed. This served as a way to cope with the idea that there was no lasting future in store, and recognize that even though the optimism I had was initially energetic and motivating, as the story unfolded, it became most important for it all to fade into memory.”
“While many songs on Find Light include a struggle between positive and negative themes within the same verses, ‘Do No Harm’ stays dark. As we all know, some experiences that bring our greatest moments of joy and light, end in a final, unavoidable flash, leaving us in a temporary void. In this situation, the struggle to make things last depicted in ‘Clover’ had ended, leaving me to sum up my realizations without the disguise of double-sided memories clouding the mind. The remaining feelings from it all allowed ‘Do No Harm’ to become one of the most dramatic songs we’ve written – helping to fill the darkest space of the album’s emotional spectrum.”