Bridal Party’s subtle and lighthearted Cool Down is a reminder to not take life too seriously

The song was full of mischief and desperation – the fervent desire for their music to be heard. Born out of eruptive passion in 2015, Bridal Party was originally a collaboration between vocalist Raudaschl and guitarist Joseph Leroux; it was after their first EP Hot Daze that drummer Adrian Heim, bassist Lee Gauthier, and keyboardist Jordan Clairmont joined. Since then, their synergy has remained strikingly serene and vibrant, resulting in a small but attentive audience who have deemed their songs soulful, atmospheric, and thought-provoking.

“Fruitless” from 2017’s Negative Space, for example, is draped in joyous grooves – albeit with lyrics about hopeless, futile dreams caused by the inevitable hierarchy of capitalism, posing an ingenious paradox. It is absolutely well-deserved that this song was the band’s breakthrough, the introduction to their compelling music, which cemented their future output as something not to be left unheard. Still, they strive to be more widely recognized (as “Attention”, a song 2 years later, seems to imply), and this unyielding ambition has led us to their second album Cool Down, harvesting the infinite glories of congealed pop melodies: subtle, hypnotising, lighthearted. It’s gentler and slightly more slow-paced, each song gliding into the next with hard-earned, meritorious patience.

“Nothing comes easy, but I’m patient,” Raudaschl sings on “Pool”, with unflappable steadiness unfound in the band’s earlier works. Even in the stormiest times such as “Baby Anymore” and “Just a Habit”, their composure, derived from the tranquil production, remains undeterred, as if the nuisance is trivial, unworthy of their precious time. They manifest this sensation right in the opening track, “Afterthought”, whose rhythmic progression calls to Kacey Musgraves’ “Slow Burn”. “Staring at the interface of two ideals,” she croons, acknowledging the solitude and mundanity in life. “Drawn to the collective and the in-between.” This is the sound of a grown person with a mature, albeit melancholic, view of their own existence, of the world that surrounds them, and an awareness of their place in it. And Cool Down sounds more refined, more realised than ever before because of this newfound quality.

Raudaschl said that they wanted the songs to be danceable, but with tunes that could also “fit in a more introspective mood at home”. The mindset indeed forms the basis for Bridal Party’s signature textures: meditative, composed, but still full of vibrant energy. There are riffing guitars, decorative grooves, heavy synths, and woozy pedal steel strewn across the ten songs. They are intricately, and intently, designed to be unobtrusive and buoyant, thus framing the band’s melodic sensibility as one that could abate anxiety, as well as encourage us to slowly tackle our everyday crises. In each verse, you can hear the musical expertise of each member meld into something soothing, mellow, almost heavenly; and this is what makes their music such an appealing mood settler – something to listen to while reclining on the couch, enjoying the uninterrupted peace.

“Cool Down”, “Just Forgetting”, and “Close to You” are among their loveliest songs – the sole reason being the perfectly balanced combination of their narrative and melody, one component reliant on the other, thus a luscious harmony. On “Just Forgetting”, pedal steel subtly wiggles through the lyrics, as Raudaschl’s voice soars along with its ascending glissando, unto a discovery of simple pleasures. There’s an ecstasy, a sense of long-lasting bliss when she comes across a life-saving tip: prioritise the present over the tumult of the past, and realise the hidden beauty all around her. This motif exists in every corner of Cool Down, a reminder not to take life too seriously, and it is enhanced by the harmony of every element in their music. Despite its calculated monotony and unadventurousness, which can sap the band’s charm at times, the record certainly inspires us to navigate our life at a relaxed pace, without rush nor immediacy. And in this hyper-connected, ever-changing world, it is undeniable that the message is much needed.