Heartfelt tunes for a Cold world

The Jacksonville, Florida band Cold have dropped their newest album, “The Things We Can’t Stop,” and they use their platform to shine a light on important issues while still sticking to their roots and producing some solid rock music. Billboard reports that the theme of many songs, like the song “Shine,” touches upon the topic of bullying and the impact it has on the world these days. Lead singer Scooter Ward talks about his own personal experiences with bullying as well as the struggles his children have faced in regards to it.

The Things We Can’t Stop is the perfect example of using life experiences and heartbreaks as a therapeutic outlet, something a lot of musicians and music lovers do. Music can be a form of therapy, but can also shine light on important issues like bullying. Cold does this very well. “Play the music loud, my life is almost gone,” lyrics on “Snow Blinded,” is a perfect example of music therapy. It is comparable to that unique song everyone has where they can just put their headphones on, tune out the world and completely transform their mood.

The album is packed with emotionally heavy themes and sounds. There’s an overpowering essence of gloominess with a glimpse of hope. You can tell the members have dug deep into their soul and went to extremely vulnerable places to produce this album. Going to these deep places gives fans a way to relate to the band and the challenging life experiences they face.

Cold does an amazing job of relaying the struggle to fans while still keeping hope alive, especially when they sing, “even if you cannot hear my voice, I’ll be right beside you dear,” in the heartfelt tune “Run.” They show that humans are all broken, but can work on being better and making the world a better place to live. A favorite on the album, “Better Human,” perfectly relays this message in a slow rocking hit.

The band doesn’t end without picking up the tempo a bit on songs like “Without You” and “Systems Fail.” They also have some melodically beautiful hits intertwined into the vulnerable album. Twinkling is the word that comes to mind when thinking of the ending of the album. “Beautiful Life” and “We All Love” end the heavy album in a lovely way, reminding listeners to keep hope and love alive despite all the darkness they face. This album is definitely jam-packed with tearjerkers, but it does very important things by providing an outlet for fans to remember they’re not alone.