by Chris Hatch and Philip Moss

The colour palette of Modern Nature’s upcoming mini-album, Annual, shifts as it drifts through the seasons – and the beautifully shadowy Harvest marks the most straightforward moment in its change in tone.

Jack Cooper’s favourite album of 2019 was Spring by Itasca, aka LA based folk musician, Kayla Cohen. And it was based upon this, along with his thoughtful, progressive take on the art of composing – ‘One of the ways to make it feel cohesive was for all the songs to be in the same key. I thought maybe I could get Kayla to sing it, as I really like the way she phrases things. The register that she usually sings in felt right. I think I knew it would work,’ Cooper stated – that he felt she was the one to complete the Annual‘s puzzle. A warming, burnt orange sky is laid out for guest vocalist Kayla Cohen’s voice to wind across, before Cooper paints in some stark, leafless trees by way of a jolting, angular guitar coda.

As on predecessor, How To Live, riffs and motifs weave their way in and out of the record like old thoughts that keep re-surfacing – they sound familiar, but each time they’re re-framed and seen in a different light. Out on 5th June, there is such undeniable power in Cooper’s latest work, and Annual – like nature itself – is a thing of true, staggering beauty.

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