Cold Cave released a song named “Psalm 23” along with a new music video. It’s the third single they’ve shared from their upcoming album Fate in Seven Lessons, which is due in full on June 11 via Heartworm Press. 

“Psalm 23” is built around a pulsating synth part and some energetic live drums. Frontman Wesley Eisold’s muttering during the verses and melodic chorus are somewhat buried under that hypnotic rhythm. The guitar part that comes in during the final part of the recording is even louder, sending it off with a noisy climax.

It was named after the famous bible verse that paints the Lord as a shepherd. According to the King James Version, it goes, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

A video for the track shows Cold Cave performing the song. They’re lit up by small candles placed about the floor while dressed in all black against a black backdrop, playing black instruments. It was filmed by Travis Shinn and Jeremy Danger.

Fate in Seven Lessons isn’t quite a comeback album for Cold Cave, because they’ve put out some other releases besides full albums in recent years, including their four-song EP You & Me & Infinity (2018), and their singles “Promised Land” (2019) and “Waving Hands” (2020). That said, Fate in Seven Lessons will be their first full-length LP since 2011’s Cherish the Light Years and their fourth LP in total since Eisold and his wife Amy Lee began releasing music together under the name in 2005. 

“Night Light,” was the lead single from the album, with a synth riff taking the lead and guitar chords crashing underneath in their typical ‘80s-remniscient style. It’s an optimistic track that Eisold states is about “clinging to love the way people cling to religion and escaping the trappings of time. It’s an ode to the light in the dark, and end of the night anthem for everything you wish you said.”

The second single, “Prayer From Nowhere,” is also about finding light in the darkness. It continues the religious themes presented in both “Night Light” and “Psalm 23.” Eisold phrased it as being “about redemption and surrender from the lowest and loneliest you can find yourself.”

Eisold is also the frontman for hardcore band American Nightmare and the previous vocalist for noisecore band Some Girls. While American Nightmare broke up in 2003 and Some Girls disbanded in 2007, American Nightmare, reunited in 2017 with a new self-titled album.

Photo credit: Raymond Flotat