Disturbing Body is the forthcoming release from Montreal/Guelph composer, singer, and guitarist Steph Yates, AKA: Cots. The album is a mix bossa nova, folk, jazz, and classical. Ahead of the LP’s arrival Cots has shared The single “Our Breath.” The song, features the production of Sandro Perri combined with Yate’s warm vocals. Disturbing Body will be released August 11, 2021 via Boiled Records

“With some songs lyrical meaning is not straightforward but more like a braid,” Yates says, “and it’s like that with ‘Our Breath.’ I can’t say what exactly the song is about. In part it has to do with a person carrying with them what they need and finding access to it in difficult moments.”

After residual effects of a concussion left Cots uncertain how to finish the record on her own, she reached out to Toronto musician and producer Perri about working together – his production notes of “play louder” and “sing plainer” eventually making indelible marks on the contours of each song. Disturbing Body found its rhythm over four cosy days in Guelph at The Cottage studio, run by Canadian veteran recording artist and engineer Scott Merritt. The result saw her crystalline vocals and intricate guitar entwined with Perri’s atmospheric arrangements for Blake Howard (percussion), Josh Cole (bass guitar), Ryan Brouwer (trumpet), Karen Ng (saxophone), Thomas Hammerton (keyboards), and Perri himself (synths, samples, field recordings).

“These songs, for the most part, have to do with the heart, something I was shy to write about previously,” Yates reveals. “It’s possible my deepening love for Brazilian music, wherein some of my favourite artists sing freely about o coração, emboldened me in this way. As a collection, the songs give a prismatic view of a lone heart in its course having known closeness and having known loss.”

Cots
Disturbing Body
Tracklist
Boiled Records

1. Disturbing Body
2. Bitter Part of the Fruit
3. Sun-Spotted Apple
4. Bluebird
5. Inertia of a Dream
6. Flowers
7. Salt or Sand
8. Our Breath
9. Last Sip
10. Midnight at the Station

Pre-order Disturbing Body by Cots HERE