Today, Weird World shares “70,” the third taste of Cold Brew, a posthumous collection of intentionally instrumental rock music by Sam Mehran. Out on July 28th to coincide with the third anniversary of his passing, Cold Brew is the first time Sam’s solo music will be released under his own name.
“70” follows previously released tracks "LOUNGY" and "COLD BREW." It exemplifies the ethos of the collection—vignettes driven by hooky guitars, puckish attitude, and dry, driving sonics, informed by rock’s history, but not reverent towards it.
A songwriter, guitarist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, Sam started a lot of projects and played in a lot of bands over his 15-year career, including Test Icicles; he also had several recording aliases for his solo work, including Outer Limits Recordings. He released everything from pugnacious dance-punk to mesmeric disco loops; unhinged hip-hop beats to perfectly poised pop songs.
Usually very critical of his own work, Sam talked with friends about how freeing it was to make Cold Brew: to keep the songs short, to not dwell on production, to not think about his voice, to simply enjoy himself. With Cold Brew’s release, both longtime fans and newcomers to Sam Mehran’s world can enjoy his whimsical, wonderful legacy, too.
Cold Brew was recorded in Los Angeles between April and May 2018. It was compiled under the guidance of Sam’s father, Abbas Mehran, and curated from over one hundred songs by Sam’s friends, Nicholas Weiss and Katie Wagner.
