Chris Cohen was always a quiet kid. In fact, this introversion was one reason he began playing music as a toddler—to communicate without speaking, to identify with others without the direct representation of words. It has worked, too, with Cohen’s terrific stint in the mighty Deerhoof and his own captivating art-rock act The Curtains, preceding production and session work for the likes of Weyes Blood, Kurt Vile, Le Ren, and Marina Allen. Somewhere along that long way, Cohen started writing lyrics. He found that, though it didn’t come naturally, the process offered a new sense of self-discovery and reckoning, a way to see himself and the world from unexpected angles. His three twilit albums of casually complicated pop during the last decade radiated these epiphanies: handling family strife, navigating advancing age, and understanding social woes.

– The Hardly Art debut by accomplished singer-songwriter and longtime Deerhoof member Chris.

– Cohen is a gem of casually complicated pop.

– Chris Cohen has also performed as a member of The Curtains, Natural Dreamers, and backing Cass McCombs, Danielson, Kurt Vile, and more.

– He produced Weyes Blood’s 2016 album Front Row Seat to Earth, and work by Gun Outfit and Le Ren.