Cold Words is the new, alt-hard rock project from mainstay of the Melbourne hardcore scene Regan Hughes, formerly of the now disbanded Left For Wolves.
“I started Cold Words when my last band Left For Wolves broke up,” Regan explains.
“I was the writer for that band as well, but it was still a real team effort and we worked really hard at it. As it fell away I thought I'd have a better chance if I tried something on my own; it was a defence to something falling away after being so functional.”
Having worked within a band dynamic for so long, Regan says Cold Words allowed him to pursue a more individual creative path that isn't hindered by stylistic conventions.
“In the hardcore genre, although we weren't in-the-box as some bands in that genre, we were still in a genre and you've got a particular crowd you're playing to,” he says.
“I love doing that but as soon as I stepped outside of that and I could do anything I wanted, it was amazing how much more creative I could be. This music just flew out, I couldn't believe how fast it came out.”
Last year, Cold Words released a nine-track album that delved into the complexities of depression, anxiety and confronting life-threatening illness, such as Regan's mother's battle with cancer. He says the new single 'Outcasts' is about “finding your place when you're feeling out of place”.
“When [Left For Wolves] broke up it was. . . a terrible line of events that led to me starting [Cold Words],” he says.
“I was feeling really lost and then I found myself and found friends and support. My mother was going through cancer surgery at the time so when you listen to the lyrics, a line like 'a dark mass growing faster', that's referring to the outcasts, about a community that I'd love to build, but the lyrics reflect cancer.”
As for what lies ahead, Regan has no plans for letting up anytime soon as he sets out to make the most he can from Cold Words. “We're going to make one more music video from the existing EP, I think it's important for me to get it out,” he says.
“We're also going to add the lyrics because with this song it is important people understand what's going on with every word. I'd say mid-year [2020], we'll put out two songs and at least one with a music video.”
