Cold Night For Alligators: Acceptance and Growth
Denmark is really becoming a hotbed for forward thinking progressive rock and metal artists. COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS have been around a lot longer than some would believe but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been blazing an impressive trail in their own right along the way. The follow-up to 2018’s Fervor album has just recently dropped and it seems that The Hindsight Notes is going down swimmingly with previous acquaintances and new fans alike.
“The response has been spectacular to say the least,” says guitarist Roar Jakobsen. “It’s been quite overwhelming. People really seem to be enjoying it, there are a lot of people playing the album.” Drummer Nikolaj Lauszus adds, “it’s refreshing that we are finally going to be able to have the opportunity to go out and play these songs as well. We’ve been rehearsing a lot as we are due to head out to our first run of shows. We want to make sure we get it right, just dusting things off a bit!”
Whilst the Copenhagen based quartet are pleased with what they have accomplished up to this stage they are confident that The Hindsight Notes displays a significant progression in their song-writing and how they operate as a band. “We’re still very proud of Fervor but being honest we felt like we rushed it,” admits Nikolaj. “This time round we firmly agreed that there would be no compromising on this album. We wanted to do everything how we wanted to and worry less about how everything would be perceived externally. I think you can sense this as the overall product is more focused and more dynamic. We’ve invested a lot more time as individuals into this album and it’s definitely been a lot more collaborative. We want all of us to be able to go out and perform these songs and enjoy them as much as possible. I don’t see us straying from this approach and way of writing in the future.”
As well as shifting gears with regards to how the band collectively contributed they didn’t want to just stop there, going bigger and bolder than ever before. “We’ve always toyed with a lot of different forms of instrumentation but this time we really wanted to delve into the experimental side,” discusses Nikolaj. “Any instruments you hear were played and recorded, there is no form of virtual instrumentation. We had like 13 or 14 guest musicians participating and it was a lot of work piecing it all together but it really paid off. It’s added a new dimension to our sound. We never want to limit our creative expression to just what the four of us can execute. We’re very happy we ventured down that road.”
“We really wanted to create something authentic and genuine with this album,” explains Roar. “We feel that we accomplished that. Regardless of whatever genre or whatever label this music gets given, we can say that these songs are 100% us. We’re very proud of these songs and they represent us as individuals as well as a band. The record is about growing up, learning from your mistakes and being able to accept your own flaws and limitations. We put a lot of personal sentiments into it but in a more universal way that listeners can find it relatable whilst they are listening to it. Because of this, it came together quite naturally and we think it flows really well.”
Rather than use the ‘hit and hope’ approach, COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS decided to hang on to the album for a while longer to ensure it didn’t evaporate into the air with no means of being able to fully promote the release as part of a touring package. This looks to have been a wise decision. “We had this album finished and have been sitting on it since December 2020,” states Nikolaj. “We got the majority of the songwriting finished before the pandemic and managed to take our time with the production. We recently signed a record deal with Arising Empire and didn’t want to just drop an album into nothing. It’s been a big relief to finally get it out there for people to hear and for us to be able to play it live. We’re scheduled to play Radar Festival later in the year and we’re really looking forward to it. It’s a killer lineup and full of bands we’re big fans of ourselves. We can’t wait to get back to the UK!”
The Hindsight Notes is out now via Arising Empire.
Like COLD NIGHT FOR ALLIGATORS on Facebook.