Chris Cohen will release Paint a Room, the multi-artist’s debut album for Hardly Art, will drop on July 12th. Ahead of the LP’s release, Cohen has shared the track “Damage.”

Cohen called in a few friends to help, with multi-instrumentalist and composer Jeff Parker contributing the fluttering horn arrangement on “Damage” and Parker’s collaborator Josh Johnson (who produced Meshell Ndegeocello’s Grammy-Award-winning album The Omnichord Real Book) supplying flute, sax, and clarinet arrangements throughout the record. Paint a Room was produced and engineered by Chris Cohen, mixed by Kenny Gilmore (Weyes Blood), and Mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering.

Trying to make something beautiful as a way to think through a problem, I wrote this song to consider the many forms state violence takes and the subtly pervasive habit of denying someone else’s personhood. We’re told that police, prisons, and the military are necessary to ensure peace, but like many people, I’ve come to see that it’s actually the opposite. I definitely struggled to find what I thought were the right words, to say something that might be hard for some of us to hear. This is my best attempt for now – my version of an abolitionist pop song,” says Cohen.

‘At the hospital and the middle school
Anywhere you look
Someone’s power over someone else
Protecting property
But only life is precious
Only life is precious

Somebody’s love was shot down today
Don’t believe what they say
You can’t just throw someone away
There is another way
Where the damage is done
This is the place for everyone’

Chris Cohen
Paint a Room
Tracklisting
Hardly Art

1. Damage
2. Paint a Room
3. Sunever
4. Cobb Estate
5. Laughing
6. Wishing Well
7. Dog’s Face
8. Night or Day
9. Physical Address
10. Randy’s Chimes

Chris Cohen 2024 Tour Dates

Thu. Jul. 25 – San Francisco, CA – The Chapel
Fri. Jul. 26 – Santa Cruz, CA – Moe’s Alley
Sat. Jul. 27 – Los Angeles, CA – 2220 Arts
Sun. Jul. 28 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy and Harriets
Fri. Sep. 20 – Arcata, CA – Richard’s Goat
Sun. Sep. 22 – Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s
Mon. Sep. 23 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
Tue. Oct. 22 – Philadelphia, PA – KFN
Wed. Oct. 23 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s Alright
Thu. Oct. 24 – Providence, RI – as220
Fri. Oct. 25 – Burlington, VT – Monkey House
Sat. Oct. 26 – Montreal, QC – Barre Le Ritz
Mon. Oct. 28 – Toronto, ON – The Garrison
Tues, Oct 29 – Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme
Weds. Oct. 30 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle

Pre-order Paint a Room by Chris Cohen HERE