Itasca: Imitation of War (PoB-073)

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Watch/Stream “Imitation of War”

Shot entirely on film and directed by Cohen, the video for “Imitation of War” features her, members of the band featured on the album, and members of Gun Outfit, in which Kayla plays bass, in various idyllic Southern Californian locales, including the LA Arboretum. According to Cohen:

This song was originally inspired by the filmMy Night at Maud’s, but then became much more than that—the long dialogue scene in the middle of the film where the two leads are discussing religion and self but are also conversationally dancing with and around each other. Then a few days later a friend spoke the phrase “imitation of war,” and to me it became a way we operate with each other, imitating peace or war through our antagonisms, intended or not, through the ways we’ve all learned to be.

That’s where the inspiration for the title and the chorus came from, and then through working on the song more the story mostly became about chasing the muse when writing music and making art, and then taking on the costume of muse myself. And I wanted to write what for me is almost a power pop/glammy song with the chorus effect on the guitar, and have fun with the riffs and guitar arrangement. The music video plays with the ideas in the lyrics and shows all of the people who have worked on and played on the record in various guises and environments.

Acknowledgments

Cohen’s got a voice that glows like the sun at dusk, and plays guitar with a nimble yet intricate touch. – NPR

Simultaneously haunting and heavenly … shimmers with an eternal mystery. – MOJO

Cohen’s most salient talent is evocation—trapping place, weather, and physical presence like a butterfly pinned beneath glass. – Pitchfork

• Co-produced by Robbie Cody (Wand, Behavior), these ten sturdy set-pieces represent the loosest, leanest, and most smolderingly electric guitar-forward recordings of songwriter Kayla Cohen’s deepening catalog.
• Deluxe LP edition features 140g black virgin vinyl and a full-color printed inner sleeve with lyrics and additional artwork
• Deluxe CD edition features a gatefold jacket with replica LP artwork
• RIYL: Michael Chapman, Bridget St John, Mike Cooper, Steve Gunn, Gun Outfit, Wand, Ryley Walker, Aldous Harding, Weyes Blood, Meg Baird, Myriam Gendron, Jessica Pratt, Linda Perhacs, Sibylle Baier, Bert Jansch, Vashti Bunyan, Gram Parsons with Emmylou Harris, Moby Grape, Chris Darrow, The Farm Band, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Thin Lizzy, the Dead, Television

Itasca Live / Itasca Links

January 13 – Los Angeles, CA – Philosophical Research Society (w/ Syko Friend, Corey Madden) (solo show)
February 21 – Los Angeles, CA – Gold Diggers (w/ Sofia Bolt)

Paradise of Bachelors | Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter
YouTube | Bandcamp | Spotify | Soundcloud

More from Itasca

Krampus Day Sale Continues

To receive the discount, visit our online store or Bandcamp page from now until 11:59PM ET on Thursday, December 13th and enter the coupon code KRAMPUS during checkout. 

N.B.: This sale excludes preorders of the forthcoming Itasca record, but the back catalog is game. Because Bandcamp does not allow exclusion of specific items form a sale, Bandcamp sale orders that include an Itasca preorder will be refunded for that portion of the order, and you can place a new, separate preorder. Thanks for understanding.