more from
Audio Antihero
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Plays with Fire

by Cloud

supported by
Steve Park
Steve Park thumbnail
Steve Park 9 excellently crafted tracks. At times joyously cacophonous, sometimes falling apart like cascades of quiet tears. Difficult to pick a fave, yet "Oh, so Juvenile" sounds like awkwardly nailing it the first time playing in a smokey jazz club to become everyone's favorite lounge act.
Jeremy / HI54LOFI
Jeremy / HI54LOFI thumbnail
Jeremy / HI54LOFI I know I'm not the first to remark on the lovingly earnest songwriting of Cloud, but… dammit if it isn't just some lovingly earnest songwriting. Every. Time. Favorite track: Happer's Laugh.
Gavin Hellyer
Gavin Hellyer thumbnail
Gavin Hellyer An extremely fine record and one that's treasures will, I'm certain, continue to unfold as time progresses. Includes some very very dreamy melodies indeed. Favorite track: Comet Happer.
Trev Elkin
Trev Elkin thumbnail
Trev Elkin “now it’s just me in the dark / now it’s just the dark in me”
www.goldflakepaint.co.uk/cloud-plays-with-fire-review/ Favorite track: Heartfluttered.
Jamie (Audio Antihero)
Jamie (Audio Antihero) thumbnail
Jamie (Audio Antihero) Likely the last album from Cloud. It's a beautiful thing. If you enjoyed "Comfort Songs" or "Zen Summer" then you should immerse yourself in this. Favorite track: Oh, So Juvenile.
more...
/
1.
true strength needs love to ease violence your eyes are love mixed with bullshit and the cost of true strength is two you were born with one and a few (for example— 1.68) then Delphine saw a green flash on the coast I heard in song there is one more in doubt there lies turns out I’ze wrong wrong something’s gotta go
2.
Disenchanted 03:07
to my friends will you love me when I get disenchanted and the light dims inside my little eyes? to my mom would you love me if i stole from my workplace every night and pretend that it’s justified? and in cold could i rub a hand on you? notice how to keep him warm means you gotta give up your own then to dad do you love me even when every day you near your end and I could not be further west? and to you could you love me like you used to when we would share the dark now it’s just me in the dark now it’s just the dark in me there’s an end searching for an end again somewhere in the search of self played with fire and got (burnt)
3.
Two Hands Bound (free) 03:06
I fell so low some things you’ll never know how odd to pray tried again the other day c’est la, c’est vous got work in the afternoon born to die a thousand days and, oh, to see what life remains ‘cause losing is a way of life and building is another way of life says the man with his two hands bound says it all with his two hands man made me a wage slave time made me a gelatin a day so nice you can shake it off sometimes and love is good mostly misunderstood like how we talk talking is also love born to doubt and see what it’s about and, oh as I dance I help myself to live and if I don’t to keep my self from loss I lather a friend, a vial of peppermint! says the man with his two hands bound says it all with his two hands man made me a wage-slave time made me a gelatin time made me a bitter one an animal an animal is what i’ve become
4.
Me, Her & Lavender (free) 02:47
Tyler’s primed for the end Greg is left outside Danny’s thinking back How we’d laugh all the time and the weight of it all turned me into a rock now i’m colder than colder and I don’t wanna talk Nervous oh for the end Kim is good for the now Brandon wants to grow but his heart won’t allow and the length of your life did it ever feel right? now i’m older than ever and holding on to life
5.
hey, i caught you smiling and the way that I need you feels so juvenile now we’re taking our clothes off and the way that I need you is the force of mankind hey, she barely watched my guts pour out and the way that I need her, it led to my life now I want my face in marble and the way that I need it is so juvenile.
6.
of course your heart fluttered she is everything you need if she’s your true love let her be now down in the valley we are anxious for your way with a hope that a spell it breaks well yes you are fucked up you may always be this way but the trick is to know when it’s okay and now you are naked and you’re shaking like a kid and she asks, “if you’ve ever done this?” you say you did and no it doesn’t matter oh, what ever could that mean? but in that grand lack you are free and now’s your big moment as she’s taking off her dress it’s your chance to perpetuate the human race!
7.
Wildfire (free) 03:07 video
every flame wants to be a wildfire every day needs to lead to something says my mind looking back to when it all was better hard to see photos of my smiles i know if i want to live something’s got to give every night goes on as I’m mindless in it every light’s racing towards the ends of everything hard to hold photos of the one’s who left us every orgasm makes you wonder oh, “is this it?” this is it
8.
Comet Happer 04:49
One more song before I leave, Nicole it’s only right in the way it feels right in the dark of a sin as still as I ever wanted it and it’s dark and it is well dark is night and it’s wild and your eyes are blue and they’re wild too no more staying on the other shore for a wish that we’ll all be all right but you know it’s fine you say, “it’s only night time”
9.
Long form caesar there is a way alling for days in your odd black magic share with a friend or Mary goes dead in her all white rocket it’s only life hiding in island eyes unembarrassed care for a friend when sadness is maddening thin willed Happer losing the light only goodbye to your orange skied parents ocean of roar love you forever more unexcited flowers can grow up to your nose and your mind likes roses cut for a friend as Mary goes mad again

about

"Plays with Fire" is the new and likely final full length album from Cloud. It's something very different to 2013's "Comfort Songs" or 2015's "Zen Summer." It was released March 9th by Audio Antihero Records and is available on vinyl or as a lossless download.

“We all listened to this record for the first time on February 17th, 2017 in my Los Angeles apartment in the pitched black darkness, no cell phones. The music was blasting loud and there was barely enough room for everyone to sit on the floor of my living room where the cover photo was taken. Something was mov-ing around over our heads in the darkness, it felt right, like an angel of sentimentality. When the album was coming to its close I sensed that something tremendous was ending along with it, but I had no idea as to what…” - Tyler Taormina

Premiered on Atwood Magazine - atwoodmagazine.com/pwf-cloud-plays-fire-premiere

Previous Press:

"Astoundingly accomplished…taking his black parade out of the basement and into the streets.” - Pitchfork

“The brevity of the album, condensed from several years’ work, actually renders it utterly enigmatic, like a lifetime reduced to a random clutch of snapshots. On Plays With Fire, however, Taormina’s songs are blistered but precious polaroids, glue barely holding them on to the pages of a family album." - Gold Flake Paint

“Glossy dream-pop production with deeply confessional lyrics” – Stereogum

"A gorgeous tour de force.” - Indie Shuffle

"There are certain records which manage to replicate, musically, serotonin release. Then there are records that contextualise this physical rush within the throws of human experience: friendship, love, memory and the swathes of melancholy that embrace our lives like a sleep. (Plays with Fire) falls dreamily into the latter category." - London in Stereo

"Keenly characteristic of the current season...begins with the picturesque opaqueness of its predecessor, but quickly blows over into a sunny spring morning, exposing a field’s worth of indie-pop blossoms that teem with vibrant colors and exuberant lifeforms. There’s not a cloud in sight." - The Alternative

"A madcap romp through far-flung styles and psych-addled planes of existence." - The Line of Best Fit

“Reminiscent of Panda Bear or Toro Y Moi, the gentle arrangement is matched to a delicate vocal which hints at something darker.” – Clash Music

”Bright-eyed, wondrous…he sounds like he possesses the keys to another universe.” - DIY Mag

"Cloud has been, and always will be, a project about navigating conflicting, hefty emotions, and this process just can’t be done without the help of close friends. “Two Hands Bound” brings four friends into the fold as Taormina explores the burnout that can accompany overworking oneself, but it doesn’t sound labored-over at all; instead, it’s about as effortless as psychedelic music gets." - POST-TRASH

“It's the sound of someone facing up to the age-old problem of growing up too soon and all the trials and tribulations that come along with that.“ - Drowned in Sound

"Tyler Taormina & friends work their music machines of endless wonder..." - IMPOSE

credits

released March 9, 2018

Mixed by Nolan Eley
Mastered by TJ Lipple
Written, Produced and Engineered by Cloud
Cloud is Tyler Taormina
Cover photo by Alyssa Ceballos
Album artwork edited by Shaun Oppedisano

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Cloud Los Angeles, California

Tyler Taormina + Friends = Cloud.

LA via Boston via Long Island. Profile photo by Carson Lund.

contact / help

Contact Cloud

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Cloud recommends:

If you like Cloud, you may also like: