Cold Specks

Ladan Hussein, who performs as Cold Specks and resides in Toronto after her birth in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada, characterizes her trademark style as "doom soul." As the daughter of Somali immigrants, she left the University of Toronto and relocated to London in order to devote herself fully to music. An appearance on the British television program Later... with Jools Holland first brought her singular combination of soul, blues, and R&B to public notice. Her initial single, "Holland," appeared in 2011; the next year she signed with Mute Records and issued her debut album, I Predict a Graceful Expulsion. The follow-up long-player, Neuroplasticity, reached listeners in 2014 and included contributions from Swans' Michael Gira and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. While on the road promoting that release, Hussein deepened her knowledge of her Somali heritage, in particular her family's life in Mogadishu before the war dispersed her relatives, and drew on those discoveries for her third album. Co-produced by Hussein and Jim Anderson, 2017's Fool's Paradise contained the first Cold Specks songs written in the Somali language together with performances by Arcade Fire bassist Tim Kingsbury.