Cots - Disturbing Body (2021)

Cots, the new project from Steph Yates, represents a more personal style for the Montreal-based artist and the debut album, ‘Disturbing Body’, is her most intimate and emotionally complex work to date. While her other projects, Esther Grey and Cupcake Ductape, were more collaborative, Cots is one of her own creations and allows her to adopt a more introspective approach to her song writing. Focusing on the theme of cosmic connectivity and its relation to human attraction, this album shows no fear of exploring obscure topics on both a micro and macro scale. As Yates explains it, “Human bodies are like celestial ones; just as a planet’s course is carved out in relation to others, our course – where we go and what we do – is compelled by forces of attraction.” The album’s title relates to the name given to a planet whose gravitational pull alters another planet’s course, which Yates sees as representing the mysterious nature of love.

So, it makes sense that an album exploring such abstract and profound subject matter should also have an equally complex musical style. ‘Disturbing Body’ draws from a wide range of influences and effortlessly blends elements of folk, jazz, classical, and a wonderful inclusion of bossa nova, a style of samba music that she adopted during her time spent in Brazil. She also met up with producer Sandro Perri in Toronto and invited some of the city’s best jazz players to inject their own passion into the album. ‘Disturbing Body’ is the product of a range of geographical and cultural influences, and it most certainly can be heard flowing through each track.