Coco/Youbet

Coco, the project of Maia Friedman, Oliver Hill, and Dan Molad, began as an experiment of sorts—three friends writing songs for nothing other than the ritual of doing so. “There’s a mutual admiration and trust among us,” the band shares. “It allows a ‘first thought best thought’ mentality.” Their vast and varied individual creative histories—notably with Dirty Projectors, Lucius, and Pavo Pavo—inform an illustrious, collective sensibility for songcraft. Coco’s self-titled debut gathered fervent acclaim from tastemakers at NPR, BBC, SiriusXM, and Spotify among others. The trio headlined packed rooms in New York City, Los Angeles, and London, made their festival debut at End of the Road, and supported Kevin Morby on a national tour. Since, life has flown wildly forward for the members of Coco—Oliver getting married, Dan getting engaged, Maia giving birth to her first child. Their highly anticipated sophomore release—starkly titled 2—honors these transformations. On opener “Any Other Way” Coco meditates on change from a widescreen perspective: The leaf and the body, each in their time, turns on a schedule, turns on a dime. Maia lays a lush bed of shoegaze guitars; Dan's builds ecstasy from downtempo drums; Oliver stirs a current of hypnotically looping basslines. The song is a stunning microcosm of this band's specific genius: carving space for each musical personality to shine, without the shadows of excess or distraction. 

“Though it's only been a few years, the band has seen us through fundamental transformations in each of our lives, which we are fortunate enough to process together.” Self-produced, with collaboration from Adrian Olsen (Lucy Dacus, Fruit Bats, Bedouine), the album is sensuous and spell-like, its sonics varying from lush, shoegaze guitars, to dusky electronica, to jangly 60’s pop. Friedman, Hill, and Molad continue their sacred practice—arriving at each other empty-handed and open-hearted, finding power in three equal parts. 

“Gorgeous, warmly wistful… a balmy, liberating groove.”—Gorilla Vs. Bear

“Bold, striking, but emphatically subdued, the dreamy pop aspect seems to be filtered in from another dimension.”—Clash

“Unerringly intimate.”—The Line of Best Fit

“Just heaven.”—BBC

Youbet is a Brooklyn band led by songwriter Nick Llobet (they/them).

The music Youbet makes is filled with relentless bursts of color, commanding attention through lyrical intimacy and stunning instrumental arrangements. Driven by equal parts humor and melancholy, Youbet finds delight in disorder, leaning into the completely unexpected with the aim of pure freedom. Their debut record, Compare and Despair, landed on Ba Da Bing Records in 2020. In the almost four years since, fueled by restless energy and a revitalized collaborative spirit, they have written, demoed, and recorded a catalog of treasures, ready to see the world.

Their new single, “Carsick,” confesses a tendency to overdo things, all with a charming frankness. Yearning for the sweetness of self-control yet unable to stop the car, Llobet pushes forward into the ills of excess. Their clever self-deprecation takes the edge off as they admit to indulgent and, at times, self-destructive patterns. Not without nuance, they wonder if there’s ever an end in sight while acknowledging how immoderation feeds their own self-assurance. Llobet grounds these themes in faded memories of a past road trip with a lover as they come to grips with being a better partner, shaking off frenzy, and finding restraint.