Lo-fi artist coldbrew takes us track-by-track through his warm and wintry album ‘no time to waste,’ a smooth, jazz-soaked seduction chasing feel-good vibes and downtempo grooves.
Stream: “my babe” – coldbrew
I wanted to make an album that sounded like life. It’s not perfect, but the real beauty lies in imperfections.
Much like the silky coffee drink he’s named his project after, coldbrew’s music goes down extra smooth.
The Oklahoma-based lo-fi artist has made a name for himself over the past four years as a reliably chill, yet nonetheless provocative beatmaker – his music often incorporating elements of jazz, hip-hop, electronica, and more as he creates immersive experiences that extend well beyond the bounds of any single track.
All this and more holds true for his latest album: Chasing feel-good vibes and downtempo grooves, coldbrew’s no time to waste is a jazz-soaked lo-fi seduction for the ears and the heart.
If only food for the soul always tasted this good. Independently released December 9, 2023, no time to waste comprises twenty warm, wintry, and wondrous songs tastefully filled with muted piano playing, subdued, passionate vocals, soft and dusty drums, smoldering trumpets, and chilled guitars.
It’s an intoxicating journey of moody musical enrichment – and one listeners can return to each winter (and admittedly, all year round) to heat their cold and weary bones.
“I made this album in four days, and it is releasing only three months after its inception,” coldbrew, aka Austyn Moffat, tells Atwood Magazine. “I let go of all those self-imposed restrictions when creating this album and only had one rule: “Does it feel good?” I wanted to make an album that sounded like life. It’s not perfect, but the real beauty lies in imperfections.”
“It’s all music,” he adds. “I’ll leave it up to you to decide how it distinguishes itself… I’m not thinking about any of that when creating, I am simply thinking does, this feel good at this moment? Songs are moments being captured. When I release music it is me sharing a moment I had with the world, nothing more and nothing less.”
When I release music it is me sharing a moment I had with the world, nothing more and nothing less.
In addition to his own musical pursuits, Moffat is also the owner of lo-fi, jazzhop, and chillhop indie label Kindbrew Records, which has released songs by softy, Mondo Loops, Oatmello, and Mujo since its inception in 2020. However, coldbrew remains his “number one gig”; he named his coffeehouse-friendly artist project after his favorite coffee beverage back in 2019, and ever since then he has continued to deliver a warm wash of songs that taste great and go down smooth.
He’s amassed a massive catalog of beats and songs in a relatively short span of time, already releasing two albums (the epic 28-track seasons and the 9-track fairytale-inspired once upon a time) and two EPs (somewhere, anywhere and point dume), in addition to a smattering of standalone singles, this year alone.
Like a cup of hot coffee on a cold winter day, no time to waste is meant to be a cozy companion.
“People always think they have time,” Moffat says of the album title. “Our time on earth is so unjustifiably small. Make the most of it. There is no time to waste.”
Even still, we’ll always have time for coldbrew and his songs. While no time to waste is filled with memorable moments – highlights include the spellbinding title track, the achingly emotive “hold me tight,” the extra-smooth instrumental “untitled jazz,” the beautifully brooding “round and round,” and the effortlessly chill “my babe,” which Atwood Magazine had the privilege of premiering in October of last year.
“‘no time to waste’ makes me tear up, ‘hold me tight’ and ‘round and round’ give me chills,” Moffat says. “‘untitled jazz’ takes my worries away, and ‘because of you’ acts as a reminder to me of where I came from to where I am now. All because people chose to listen to my moments.”
A tender lo-fi indulgence becomes a transportive escape; wherever you are in your day, turn on no time to waste and prepare to feel as good listening to this album as coldbrew felt while making it.
“I just hope that listeners take something away from it. If they take anything from it or it makes them feel anything at all, then I’ve done my job,” Moffat shares. “It has taught me to not be so precious with my music. Capture moments, share the moments. I used to get really caught up in my head about promoting my songs and feeling a massive obligation to promote my music to give it the best chance of succeeding. I now realize most of it is out of my control.”
“I can’t control if someone likes my music. I can only control what I create. The best songs will find people at the right times. It’s not up to me. That has been an incredible weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside coldbrew’s no time to waste with Atwood Magazine as Austyn Moffat takes us track-by-track through the music and lyrics of his latest album!
— —
:: stream/purchase no time to waste here ::
:: connect with coldbrew here ::
Stream: ‘no time to waste’ – coldbrew
:: Inside no time to waste ::
— —
no time to waste
It’s in the lyrics here. There is no time to waste. This track is first on the record because it is my favorite on the album, and why wait to show people my favorite track? There is no time to waste. It’s a meditation. “there is no time to waste”. Soak in that phrase. This song is a mantra, a reminder that there is no time to waste.
i wish every day felt like this
When trying to come up with a title for this tune all I could think was “i wish every day felt like this song.” Thus the title “i wish every day felt like this.”
in your arms
This track is comfort. I hope listeners can close their eyes and feel the embrace from someone they care about when tuning into this one. Rather that is family, friends, a spouse, anything. My goal when making songs is to try and capture very specific moments that often feel fleeting so we can stay in those moments for just a little bit longer.
warm feelings on loop
This is a loop I crafted in around 25 minutes. Then proceeded to listen to for about 2 hours while laying on the floor of my studio.
hold me tight
I love this song. One of my favs. Another mantra. Similar influence as in your arms. Trying to capture a feeling that I want to live in for longer than it exists in real life.
untitled jazz
It’s jazz with a feeling I couldn’t put into words, thus it’s untitled. Special shoutout to faff for the sax on this one.
gratitude
How I was feeling on the day I made this beat. Grateful. Another tune that took less than an hour to make that I had on loop for a couple. This time I was looking out my window reflecting on my career in music and just how lucky I feel to be able to do this for a living.
my babe
This track just feels good. I’ll leave it at that.
breaking icicles
The percussion on this one sounds like ice icicles breaking so I named it that.
moving on
This one is sad to me but has just been the hard truth of the past year. I’ve gone from over 1 million monthly listeners to 500k. The truth is a lot of people use my music to study to and they have been graduating. I made this song with that melancholy in mind. I don’t listen to much music that I really loved 5 years ago. I’ve moved on from that too. So I understand it, but it is sad nonetheless. Nowadays it seems like when people want study music they just tune into lofi girl because they own “lofi beats to study to” (metaphorically own it meaning they dominate all the search results). Discovery doesn’t exist as much in the lofi scene, background music just isn’t something that people actively seek out. Making lofi beats is a ritual for me so it’s something I’ll never stop doing regardless.
imperfection is beauty
It is. Nothing I like more than when an artist messes up during a live show, or when there is a mistake in a recording. That is what makes it human. That is what makes it special. The imperfections.
i see now
This one was just a fun afternoon in the studio. The vocal is a bit haunting, and doesn’t really make any sense. It says “e i see” with the chops. Which didn’t have quite the ring to it that I see now did.
i feel weird sometimes
The guitar is wobbly like my brain sometimes.
somebody
Sometimes it’s just like that. I need somebody.
wednesday morning
I made this beat on Wednesday morning.
the alcove
This song sounded like chilling in the cozy wall indentation spot. I didn’t know what it was called so I Googled “wall indentation spot with pillows” and found out it is called an Alcove.
round and round
This song is meant to dance with your partner or dog or pillow or whatever in your living room to. Shoutout to Louk for the the sax solo.
outside the lines
As a kid I would always color outside the lines on purpose. It seemed more fun than doing what everyone else did. I did the same thing in life and so far so good. Sometimes it makes things a lot more difficult for me but it also makes it more interesting.
bokeh
I made this tune on an IG live and asked my viewers for a name for it and someone said bokeh. The name stuck.
because of you
The best album closer I have ever made. There is nothing I could say about this tune that it doesn’t say itself in the song. I feel so damn lucky, and it’s all because of you.
— —
:: stream/purchase no time to waste here ::
:: connect with coldbrew here ::
Stream: “because of you” – coldbrew
— — — —
Connect to coldbrew on Instagram
Discover new music on Atwood Magazine
© courtesy of the artist
© courtesy of the artist:: Stream coldbrew ::
