Cold War Kids’ Nathan Willett Opens up about the Band, New Music before Minneapolis Concert

Last updated on March 24th, 2024 at 01:29 pm

Before playing a sold-out First Avenue concert, Cold War Kids’ lead singer Nathan Willett chatted about two decades of the band, favorite Minnesota memories, and personal influences on their latest album, the self-titled Cold War Kids.

Cold War Kids recently kicked off the second leg of their 20 Years Tour. While enduring changes in the band, a core of Willett and bassist Matt Maust has been consistent. So, what is the secret to maintaining the “Cold War Kids” sound?

From Willett’s perspective, it combines his Harmony guitar with “piano and drum sounds” while constantly asking themselves, “How do we play and modernize?” He wonders if the sound is “still there” or if they’ve “stretched that out.” But throughout the recording process, Willett reveals, “The secret makes doing it fun.”

After completing their New Age Norms trilogy of albums, Willett says this recording process led to their recent release becoming self-titled. “It felt like that was the goal” and even a “cool” thing to do, and that the record’s “characteristics, things that sound modern or vintage…the mix was very Cold War Kids”.

But with 20 years of music that includes ten full-length albums plus various EPs and single releases, how does the band develop their setlists? Willett admits “it becomes trickier and trickier” and that there is a “certain degree of trying things.” Sometimes, the band even wonders if they are mixing in too much new material or if the new songs are “getting off the ground.”

But Willett emphasizes he loves that part of his job, and after all these years, he does not “begrudge” performing any songs.

To this, the band’s First Avenue setlist played like a greatest hits album. Singles like “Hang Me Up To Dry” and “Love is Mystical” were met with rocking enthusiasm. The crowd swayed and sang along to the emotional “Can We Hang On?” and “Hospital Beds.”

And, of course, songs from Cold War Kids were featured as well, including “Double Life,” “Run Away With Me,” and “Another Name.” Those songs serve up motifs of questioning and doubt, especially when paired with “Heaven in Your Hands,” released after the eponymous album. And Willett revealed insight into this: a recent autistic diagnosis for his four-year-old daughter.

Willett says that what moves him about songwriting are those “dark night of the soul moments,” whether questioning God, personal meaning, or something else. It is what “moves him most to be creative.” And while there can be general interpretations of despair or “relationship stuff” in the new songs, recent struggles became a “hindsight” revelation.

Take lyrics to the album’s opening song, “Double Life”: Now I’m a mother of three, not living for myself/I’m dancing right here, but my heart is somewhere else. Willett confesses the diagnosis was a “wild moment” and that parenting feels “egalitarian,” particularly when having a child with special needs.

Perhaps echoing this is Willett’s “favorite line” in the song: I know we don’t know a man who acts maternally/Now I’m on the brink of civil war, me in gender-fluid jeans, so small/I’m dancing right here but my heart is always torn.

The songs reflect a struggle, which you might “reject …when uncomfortable, [but] if you accept it, profound things happen.” Willett closes by admitting these thoughts feel a little “awkward” and “vulnerable” but hopes these hindsight revelations may be helpful to share with others.

Opening the evening was Joe P, who shredded heavy guitar riffs and feverish moves in an exceptional warm-up. In fact, it was more of a heat-up. And by the time Cold War Kids took the stage, Willett and the band were ready to rock. After a few songs, Willett expressed gratitude to the sell-out crowd and delight in playing at First Avenue.

Prior to the show, he foreshadowed this, saying how First Avenue is a “great club and special venue” with “great kind of people…authentic” and that it is always a great live experience. In prior visits, he shared “lots of good memories,” including visiting Krista Tippett at Minnesota Public Radio and the On Being podcast.

And with that fondness of the venue, Willett joked that he may have to camp outside First Avenue until the band gets a star on the wall. After this sold-out show, hopefully that will happen on the band’s next visit.