HNAF (Hot New Album Fridays): Cuco – “Hitchhiker EP”
Rating: 8/10 – Excellent
Cuco’s “Hitchhiker” is a six song indie pop phenomena that surreptitiously takes you on a galvanic ride. Cuco’s lead single “Planet Express” is a knockout track that makes us feel warm and fuzzy! Check it out below and read more:
Cuco releases his new EP Hitchhiker via Interscope Records. Recorded at Big Bad Studios in Los Angeles and produced by Michael Beinhorn (Soundgarden, Hole, Red Hot Chili Peppers), the EP’s six songs see Banos refining his inherent songwriting talents with introspective wordplay and heady sounds.
The Hitchhiker EP came together after Cuco experienced an injury that forced him to reckon with his own mortality. Coming out of this experience Cuco struggled to grasp the overwhelming concept of the fragility of life. Traditionally he would have found solace by drowning his thoughts in a variety of substances, but instead, he opted to cope by staying sober and creating a universe all his own through new music. As a result, with Hitchhiker, Banos has made some of the strongest and, ironically, most psychedelic music of his career in a state of sobriety.
On the lead single off the project “Planet Express,” Cuco laments the toll of a long-distance relationship. The track is complimented with planetary idioms and musical production that embodies a feeling of floating through space, speaking to the EP’s larger themes of self-discovery and romantic longing. On “Messenger,” Banos ruminates on the winding ride towards finding stillness. The enchanting “Mesh Camp” reflects on staying the course, even amidst the oceans swaying “secretly and violently.” Regardless, Banos retains his resolve: “I stay in place,” he sings, inviting others to “take this journey with me.” Banos hopes that this EP will give listeners the opportunity to pause and reflect – and perhaps find clarity within themselves, too. “If they feel like they need closure, maybe this can offer some kind of closure with the self,” Banos says. “We don’t get enough time to sit with ourselves, and talk to ourselves, and reflect on what’s going on in our lives.”
Leading up to the EP’s release, Cuco has been on the road for his North American tour, which began in Miami and is set to conclude in his hometown of Los Angeles for a performance at Tyler, The Creator’s Camp Flog Gnaw festival. Cuco will be closing out the Flog Stage at the festival at 9 pm this Sunday. The new EP follows his sophomore album, Fantasy Gateway, which Pitchfork described as having”newfound shine” and marked the opening of a fresh chapter.
Listen to Hitchhiker above and stay tuned for more from Cuco coming soon.
