Before that though, check out the lead single “Terrible Feelings!” for a wee idea of what’s to come. It’s also backed with an exclusive b-side that you won’t hear on the album.
If you like reading good music writing, I’d recommend having a look at the premiere feature that Atwood Magazine did for the single.
As we work on retiring my guy Ty, we’ve been lucky find 34 (!) artists with love and affection for Cloud, who wanted to record a cover of his for a brand new tribute album. It has been a beautiful (and weird) experience.
This record includes a hugely eclectic set of covers of songs from every Cloud release, from Audio Antihero alumni like Magana, Benjamin Shaw, Jack Hayter, former compilation guests like Samira Winter, Marblemouth, Antony Harding, as well new artists that include friends, family, former Cloud collaborators and much more. It’s a wonderful thing.
“This has been an incredibly warming and strange experience over the past few months for Jamie from Audio Antihero and I to hear covers from our friends coming in. Each one brought to me a sense of nostalgia for the song being covered, when it was written/recorded or simply remembering the fact that the song had existed. And laced with that feeling was the comforting presence of a friend who was singing the new version, their interpretation of the tune many times actually better performed than the original versions, some of which date back to when I was 18 old. I’ve heard all of the covers once and had a really intense experience nearly every time I heard them. I’m not sure if I can hear them all again but I know the impressions they’ve left on me are enormous and speak volumes to the talent of the friends that I’ve made throughout the years.
I’m quite glad we did this for a few reasons, and I must say the main reason is to prompt these friends of mine to keep making as much music as they possibly can before we all get old and boring. ❤
Thanks everyone for contributing and for listening and supporting Cloud over the years. For new listeners, I hope that this compilation can serve as a guide to some of the tunes we’ve been brewing up over the years.” – Tyler Taormina / Cloud
While I’m here, something else you might have missed was this recent Cloud b-side:
Happy (and sad) to tell you that Cloud’s Plays with Fire LP is out today. It will likely be the last album from Cloud. We would so appreciate your support.
If you ever felt moved by Comfort Songs or Zen Summer, I’d really suggest immersing yourself in this conflicted and eclectic new album.
“We all listened to this record for the first time on February 17th, 2017 in my Los Angeles apartment in the pitched black darkness, no cell phones. The music was blasting loud and there was barely enough room for everyone to sit on the floor of my living room where the cover photo was taken. Something was mov-ing around over our heads in the darkness, it felt right, like an angel of sentimentality. When the album was coming to its close I sensed that something tremendous was ending along with it, but I had no idea as to what…” – Tyler Taormina
Early praise for ‘Plays with Fire’:
“The brevity of the album, condensed from several years’ work, actually renders it utterly enigmatic, like a lifetime reduced to a random clutch of snapshots. On Plays With Fire, however, Taormina’s songs are blistered but precious polaroids, glue barely holding them on to the pages of a family album.” – Gold Flake Paint
“A gorgeous tour de force.” – Indie Shuffle
“Cloud’s third album ‘Plays with Fire’ is a spiritual journey through intimate darkness, a poignant and beautiful experience of vulnerability and solitude.” – Atwood Magazine
“There are certain records which manage to replicate, musically, serotonin release. Then there are records that contextualise this physical rush within the throws of human experience: friendship, love, memory and the swathes of melancholy that embrace our lives like a sleep. (Plays with Fire) falls dreamily into the latter category.” – London in Stereo
“Keenly characteristic of the current season…begins with the picturesque opaqueness of its predecessor, but quickly blows over into a sunny spring morning, exposing a field’s worth of indie-pop blossoms that teem with vibrant colors and exuberant lifeforms. There’s not a cloud in sight.” – The Alternative
“A madcap romp through far-flung styles and psych-addled planes of existence.” – The Line of Best Fit
“Cloud has been, and always will be, a project about navigating conflicting, hefty emotions, and this process just can’t be done without the help of close friends. “Two Hands Bound” brings four friends into the fold as Taormina explores the burnout that can accompany overworking oneself, but it doesn’t sound labored-over at all; instead, it’s about as effortless as psychedelic music gets.” – POST-TRASH
“Tyler Taormina & friends work their music machines of endless wonder…” – IMPOSE
“Blissful unease defines Cloud. On Plays with Fire, much of the lyrics are somehow simultaneously hopeful and pessimistic, with our narrator hanging out with friends while feeling antisocial or seeking love when he has none to give.” – The 405
“…by funneling this through the prism of lush-but-lo-fi pop, the melancholy is at once accentuated and transcended, the often soaring instrumentation lifting what would otherwise be morose thoughts and consuming worries into something almost otherworldly.” – Various Small Flames
There’s lots of news and music still to come, so keep an eye on Cloud’s Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and maybe get your pre-order in for the limited edition vinyl.
Really happy to announce today that Cloud’s new album, Plays With Fire, is out March 9th on Audio Antihero. There will be limited vinyl and lossless downloads.
We’re leading the charge with two free singles with lovely music videos. You can hear “New Yorker” and “Cherry Tree” below. The album is available on Bandcamp, Spotify and more.
RECORD RELEASE SHOW – with CHUCK, FROG, MAGANA and SOFT YES:
CHUCK is gonna play like his fourth ever live show (or something) in September along with sets from Frog, Magana and soft yes. Check them all out at Secret Project Robot in Brooklyn on September 6th – Facebook / Songkick.
Just wanted to let you know, there’s a stunning new video for Magana‘s “Inches Apart.” It’s really quite lovely. You can watch that here. Directed by Lauren Finerman.
Plus, you can download the single via Bandcamp, backed with exclusive new remixes from Frog and Benjamin Shaw.
Today we have released a benefit compilation for Southern Poverty Law Center and the National Immigration Law Center entitled “Unpresidented Jams.“ I was delighted to receive recordings from Jeffrey Lewis, Yr Friends, Okin Osan, Pearl Crush, Deerful, Alex Chilltown, Mulligrub, Fridge Poetry, Vassals, Betsy Ross and more (including Audio Antihero regulars like Cloud, Benjamin Shaw, CHUCK, Jack Hayter and Frog‘s Tom White).
This nineteen track compilation is available for a low minimum donation of £2.99 so that everyone can hopefully afford it but anybody who can dig a little deeper is encouraged to do so.
In celebration of the fact that Magana is going on a little tour of NY and CA (and maybe more) over the next few weeks, we thought it’d be nice to give old live favourite “Pages” the single treatment. It’s free to download, so I hope you enjoy it.
Delighted to say that Magana‘s debut EP ‘Golden Tongue’ is out today from a wide array of digital oulets. I really hope that you’ll find a chance to give this a listen. I’m so happy with the music and I’ve really enjoyed working with Jeni on this release. It’s been fun. Find her on Twitter or Facebook to say Hi.
“Recalling Torres and Sharon Van Etten at their most intimate moments…Magana’s parched vocal is a complete heartbreaker.” – The Line of Best Fit
“There’s something beautiful in finding what you want and demanding it, and Magana perfectly captures that.” – The Grey Estates
“Magana enters the scene guns blazing with the simple request to be the real deal or no deal at all.” – IMPOSE
“Through music I have learned the shape of desire – contoured and faceted, with the texture of velvet and the sheen of spilt oil on the blacktop. In Magana I feel it again.” – Collapse Board
“Golden Tongue has enough range of emotion and musical variety to engage the attention from start to finish, and it feels like a journey in a way that many full albums fail to…It sounds like the birth of a new star.” – Musos’ Guide
“Jeni’s voice is entirely her own.” – For the Rabbits
“I truly can’t wait to hear what she does next.” – VAMP
“A whisper in your ear, bedroom acoustics performer who has broken out from the background of being a session musician to taking centre stage.” – Bearded Magazine
“When I hear a song like this, I start believing there is a primal source of strength that music, but only some music, manages to channel into the outer world. Magana does that.” – Beautiful Freaks
“I could see her (right now) opening up for St. Vincent on her next tour. Yes that should happen. It feels right to me. After that I want to hear Magana’s full length.” – American Pancake
Follow Magana on 
Audio Antihero: 