Colde Paints an Idealistic View
After almost a year and a half since his last release, genre connoisseur Colde is back with Idealism—an album that could not have been more aptly named.
For the past year, Colde has turned his sights back towards the world of music production. With a slew of new talent under his label WAVY and many credits on big releases such as Baekhyun’s “Love Again” and WOODZ’s “Waikiki,” it’s been a busy time for the singer-songwriter. The wait could not have been longer for fans, however, and the release of Idealism feels like the biggest exhale after having held your breath for months.
In true Colde fashion, the album does not shy away from genre exploration, shifting creative gears from the get-go with the explosive opening track “Lighter.” Unveiled as a pre-release track on January 23, “Lighter” starts off boldly with a grungy distorted guitar and in-your-face lyrics that sound akin to a declaration of war—a war against the ordinary. It’s certainly more rock-heavy than we’ve ever seen from Colde, but it’s no surprise the R&B singer successfully bends the genre to his will.
“Wolf,” a song about longing for love, takes a safer route with its bluesy electric guitar and Colde’s crooning vocals. This song is nothing new for Colde, who’s mastered the laid-back vibes found in this track long ago, but the play on words in the “howling” of the chorus is enough to make us love it anyway.
In an interview with OSEN, Colde admitted that he chose to have two title tracks for Idealism because he felt like its chase-your-dreams concept was two-sided. First up of the twin title tracks is “The Museum,” a song with jazzy influences that have come to be synonymous with Colde’s solo releases. With aspects of R&B, blues, and even subtle hints of funk in the bass line, the song sounds like a continuation of Colde’s last single “Control Me.” Although the base track is nothing to raise eyebrows at—at least not for Colde—the smattering of effects throughout the song is actually quite surprising. From the muted keyboards in the opening to electric guitar to the funky bass to even pizzicato string effects and light piano, this song about love at first sight somehow has it all and it works, even though it shouldn’t. On top of the instrumental, Colde’s lyrics paint the picture well, creating an image so vivid and so dreamy that it's only too easy to imagine falling in love at a museum.
The music video for “The Museum” is about as simplistic as it gets and fittingly whimsical with Colde drifting through a museum. It’s a video so effortless that it by all means should be boring, and yet, there’s something enticing in its dreamlike straightforwardness. The effects are easy but stunning, with Colde levitating in midair at times and wandering through halls covered in photos of himself at others. Though it’s not exactly short, the video ends before you expect it, exactly like waking up from a dream.
“Dream” picks the album’s beat back up with a denser percussion track than is usual in Colde’s releases and ironically sounds nothing like its ethereal title begets, but listeners don’t have to wait long for the promise of a dreamlike song to pay off. “Tunnel” is a nearly lyricless interlude that sounds like the musical personification of falling asleep, and a track that shifts the tone of the entire album in a direction more like 2019’s Love Part 1. It’s fitting then, that the song that follows is the second title track “A Song Nobody Knows.” Truth be told, the track somehow sounds like everything and nothing that we’ve heard from Colde before. Closer to a ballad than anything he’s released previously with his vocals taking the focus, Colde creates an incredibly personal and intimate environment as he sings of beautiful loneliness. On the surface, this is a simple song that could easily be sung by someone else and still be enjoyable, but there’s something unique to Colde’s delivery that makes the imagery all the more striking in its isolation. As a result, it’s not too hard to see why he felt the need to promote this track as a second title.
The album winds down with “Blue Candle,” a song that shares the same soft tones of “A Song Nobody Knows” but in a way that could not be more different. If “A Song Nobody Knows” is the quiet comfort of a vacant room, “Blue Candle” is the warmth of being held in another’s arms. The song almost feels like a direct response to the emptiness of “A Song Nobody Knows,” filling in the gaps perfectly to wholly end the album on the most tender note possible.
Multiple times, Colde has said that this album is meant to be experienced from start to finish. And while I believe this sentiment holds true for every project Colde has ever released, it’s particularly significant in Idealism. Each track plays off the last, adding to the overall auditory experience in a way that will have listeners rushing to put the album on loop. Idealism is a story without a clear beginning or end, much like the most immersive of dreams, just the way Colde intended, and an album that was inexplicably worth the wait.