''Cool It Down'' is the fifth studio album by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are comp ...

, released on September 30, 2022, through

Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...

. It marks the group's first album since 2013's ''

Mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning "gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "lit ...

'' and their first release through Secretly Canadian. The lead single "Spitting Off the Edge of the World" featuring

Perfume Genius Michael Alden Hadreas (born September 25, 1981), better known by his stage name Perfume Genius, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Hadreas's music explores topics including sexuality, his personal struggle with Crohn's disease, dom ...

was released on June 1, 2022. The band began a world tour in support of the record from June 2022. ''Cool It Down'' received acclaim from music critics and is nominated for

Best Alternative Music Album The Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album is an award presented to recording artists for quality albums in the alternative genre at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Ho ...

at the

65th Annual Grammy Awards The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023. It will recognize the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from October 1, 2021, to September 3 ...

Background

In a press release,

Karen O Karen Lee Orzolek (born November 22, 1978) is a South Korean-born American singer, musician, and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist for the indie rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Early life She was born in Seoul, South Korea, the daughter of a Ko ...

stated: "Don't have to tell you how much we've been going through in the last nine years since our last record, because you've been going through it too ..So yes we've taken our time, happy to report when it's ready it really does just flow out." The title of the album was taken from

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacL ...

song of the same name from their 1970 album '' Loaded'', while lead single "Spitting Off the Edge of the World" was inspired by the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term describing global warming and climate change, and their impacts. The term and the alternative term ''climate emergency'' have been used to describe the threat of global warming to humanity (and their planet), and to ...

. "Fleez," the album's fourth track, incorporates elements from fellow

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

band ESG's 1981 song " Moody". Yeah Yeah Yeahs first teased new music in early May 2022 after announcing shows in New York City and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

in October.

Critical reception

''Cool It Down'' was acclaimed by critics upon its release. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

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score of 82, based on 22 reviews. Reviewing the album for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

, Heather Phares wrote that "For a band who seemed so impulsive at the outset, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' reflection and deliberation has been a surprising strength that's only grown with time. They may never lose all their restlessness -- nor should they -- but it's undeniable that ''Cool It Down'' is one of their most consistent albums." Writing for ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', Erica Campbell declared that, "Despite its acute focus on the current bleak state of things, the album shines a light on a brighter and divergent future; not just for the world, but for a band who continues to evolve among critiques that their past is the best part of them." Phillipe Roberts was more reserved in praising the album for ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'', claiming that; "Yeah Yeah Yeahs spend some of ''Cool It Downs sharpest moments citing and deconstructing their influences with refreshing candor. ... But every now and then,

aren O's Aren may refer to: People ; Given name * Andreas Arén (born 1985), Swedish ski jumper * Aren b, also known as Brendan Vintedge, American singer-songwriter * Aren Davoudi (born 1986), Armenian basketball player * Aren Kuri (born 1991), Japanese bas ...

reliable lyrical workhorse hits a brick wall."

Track listing

Personnel

Yeah Yeah Yeahs *

– vocals, synthesizer *

Nick Zinner Nicholas Joseph Zinner (born December 8, 1974) is an American guitarist for the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs and a record producer. Zinner is an accomplished photographer. Musical career Before forming the Yeah Yeahs Yeahs with Karen O and ...

– guitar, synthesizer *

Brian Chase Brian Chase (born February 12, 1978) is an American drummer and drone musician who plays in the New York rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. He was ranked at #50 in Gigwise's list of ''The Greatest Drummers of All Time''. He plays drums with traditional ...

– drums, cymbals, percussion Additional musicians *

– vocals (1) * Anthony Paul Lopez – percussion (4) *

Justin Raisen Justin Louis Raisen is an American record producer, songwriter, audio engineer, mixing engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. His production, songwriting, and mixing credits include: Yves Tumor, David Bowie, Kim Gordon, Ariel Pink, Angel Olsen, Sk ...

– sound effects (4) * Mark Nishita – synthesizer (4, 8) * Stephen Hussey – orchestra leader (5) * Urban Soul – strings (5, 7) Technical * Greg Calbi – mastering * Steve Fallone – mastering *

Shawn Everett Shawn Everett (born July 6, 1982) is a Canadian music engineer and producer best known for his work with Alabama Shakes, Kacey Musgraves, The War on Drugs, The Killers, and Julian Casablancas. Everett has won six Grammy Awards. Early life Evere ...

– mixing * Derek Coburn –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

(1–3, 6) * Mario Ramirez – engineering (1–3, 6) * Justin Raisen – engineering (4, 8) * Anthony Paul Lopez – engineering (4, 8) * Ainjel Emme – engineering (4) * Adam Noble – engineering (5, 7) *

Andrew Wyatt Andrew Wyatt Blakemore is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Manhattan, New York, he began his career playing in New York bands such as The A.M. and Black Beetle. He gained wider notability as the frontman ...

– engineering (5, 7) * Jens Jungkurth – engineering (5, 7) * Tim O'Sullivan – engineering (5, 7) * Will Purton – engineering (5, 7)

Charts

References

2022 albums Albums produced by Dave Sitek Secretly Canadian albums Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums {{2020s-album-stub