Louis Cole has shared “Dead Inside Shuffle,” a track off his new album Quality Over Opinion, dropping via Brainfeeder Records on October 14th. Louis provides the backbone of the groove playing drums, synth bass, keys and, of course, is on vocal duties, whilst Henry Solomon (saxophone), Rob Sheppard (flute), Jon Hatamiya (trombone) and Aidan Lombard (trumpet) provide exemplary brass punctuation.

The single follows ‘Let It Happen’, ‘Not Needed Anymore’ and ‘I’m Tight’, a sleek, 7 minute Funk rocket and accompanying wild dance video with choreography by Cole that elicited praise from NPR, CLASH (“A work of real individuality”), Paste Magazine (“Keys and guitars flit across the composition like shooting stars, but Cole keeps it tight until he finally rides the groove off into the sunset”) and The Guardian who tipped “Quality Over Opinion” in their “Autumn 2022’s essential music” round-up: “His latest album is a 20-track odyssey through thumping grooves, falsetto soul and improvised instrumental freak-outs”.

Quality Over Opinion was written, performed and produced by Louis in his modest home studio with contributions from a handful of close friends, namely Genevieve Artadi (“my no.1 music collaborator”); saxophonist Sam Gendel – Cole’s friend for 17 years; pianist Chris Fishman; Nate Wood from the band Kneebody; Marlon Mackey; and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel.

“This album is a representation of me trying to make the best, most powerful and listenable music I can. For myself and also others,” says Louis. Accordingly, his touchstones for “Quality Over Opinion” include boundary-pushing composers such as Gustav Mahler and György Ligeti alongside jazz icons like Miles Davis, the Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah, Morten Lauridsen (distinguished professor of music and American Choral Master) and Super Mario Kart. “There is no continuous thread of a story on this album, each song expresses its own moment in my life and time,” he explains. “I was inspired by joy, pain and the constant mission to pull something out of life around me”.

Louis Cole Big Band Shows 2022

19 Oct – August Hall, San Francisco, CA, US
20 Oct – Session Music Hall, Eugene, OR, US
21 Oct – Revolution Hall, Portland, OR, US
22 Oct – Earshot Jazz @ The Town Hall, Seattle, WA, US
23 Oct – Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA, US
05 Dec – Nagoya Club Quattro, Nagoya, JP
06 Dec – Umeda Club Quattro, Osaka, JP
07 Dec – Shibuya O-East, Tokyo, JP

Pre-order Quality Over Opinion by Louis Cole HERE