Cold Years release their debut album ‘Paradise’ via eOne.

The Aberdeen quartet initially formed in 2014, from a project by Ross Gordon, joined by guitarist Finlay Urquhart, and drummer Fraser Allan.

As a trio the band released two studio EPs: 2015’s ‘Mile Marker’, followed by ‘Death Chasers’, but regard Louis Craighead joining on bass/vocals in 2017 the point at which Cold Years began as a band.

EP ‘Northern Blue‘ was followed by pro-EU anthem ‘62‘ which came out last November on German label Homebound Records.

The album’s 13 tracks were whittled down, frontman Gordon estimates, from an initial 60 songs. The original plan was to put out a debut album last year, but five songs in, the band scrapped everything and started again from scratch.

“We all, really, really fought about what we each wanted on this,” Gordon says of the track selection process. “There were heated arguments about the songs because every single person was so engaged in the process. And that’s a first for us. If we’d done it any other way or at any other time, it wouldn’t have been the same, and more importantly, it wouldn’t have been as good.”

“Our hometown is a shithole,” Gordon says when asked about the album’s title. “The album is called ‘Paradise’ because Aberdeen is not a paradise. It’s horrible, it’s grey, and it’s cold all the time. We all live and work here, and it’s not very happy. It’s quite morbid when you stop to think about it. But at the same time, it’s home.”

The quartet kicked off last year featuring in Kerrang’s ‘Hottest Bands of 2019’ alongside Fever 333 & Yonaka. Live announcements followed for 2000 Trees, This Is Tomorrow & King Tut’s Summer Nights, as well as a UK tour with Philadelphia punk rock stalwart Dave Hause.

Of the album, Gordon says: “There’s an ongoing narrative about how fucked everything is at the moment.

“It links everything really, not just purely politics. It’s linked to the economy, to drugs and alcohol, and what our generation is going through right now. You work hard in school, you train for your career and you try to succeed at it, but the reality is that none of it really fucking matters. It’s a record that’s angry because, as a generation, we feel like we’ve been sold short.

“There’s definitely some love on there – it’s important to keep things like that in between the misery,” the frontman points out. “Because these are songs of passion and belief that unapologetically breathe the redemptive fire of rock’n’roll.”

‘Paradise’ is available now, on CD and 12″ vinyl or digitally.

More at www.facebook.com/coldyearsband