San Francisco’s Cold Beat have announced a new album, War Garden, which will be out September 17 via Like LTD. (It comes just a little over a year after 2020’s great Mother.) The title is a reference to the “victory gardens” of WWII where people were encouraged to grow their own food as supplies were shipped to troops overseas, but it stems from the pandemic and a sense of self-sufficiency during times of strife. Bandleader Hannah Lew and the rest of Cold Beat — Sean Monaghan, Kyle King, and Luciano Talpini Aita — made the album remotely, with songs written over Zoom.

The first single is “See You Again,” a gorgeous, dreamy synth ballad which was written early in the pandemic. The song began with a more literal meaning of not being able to socialize, but then became more about reconnecting with loved ones in the afterlife. “I had spent many months toiling in the dirt, tending to my War Garden,” says Lew. “Working with the soil is so hopeful, but also morbid. I had to bury some bulbs instead of being able to be present for the burial of a close friend. It became almost fetishistic to bury seeds, like a physical way to be there without actually being able to be there.”

You can watch the video, which was shot in Lew’s yard and at Ocean Beach, below.

War Garden Tracklist
1. Mandelbrot Fall
2. SOS
3. Tumescent Decoy
4. Weeds
5. See You Again
6. Arms Reach
7. Year Without A Shadow
8. Rubble Ren
9. Part The Sea
10. Leaves And Branches
11. New World