Out now: Two new albums by Jude Cole

After a couple decades as a successful producer, film composer, manager and more, Jude Cole is finally back to making his own music. His self-produced sixth album, COUP DE MAIN is out now on all digital outlets via Fresh Coffee Records. So is the self-produced COOLERATOR, a collection of covers of his favorite songs from the 1950s, also on all digital outlets.

“I never wanted to bookmark myself,” he explains in a press release. “I really do enjoy creating new music, and I don’t care to look back all that much. I have the Gold and Platinum records in my tank, but I don’t hang them on the walls. I don’t always like to look at past achievements — I prefer right now and a little of what’s next. I spent the last 22 years managing artists like Jason Wade and Lifehouse and being a very behind-the-scenes writer, producer and manager. For me, these two new solo projects allow me to do what I’ve always done creatively, but with a new ability to actually stand back and appreciate it.”

COUP DE MAIN encompasses a variety of styles. On “The Dark,” Cole gets assistance from acclaimed fellow producer/artist, Patrick Leonard. “We’ve been friends and very close neighbors for a long time, and he would literally walk his small synth down to my studio and plug in,” details COLE. “He did all the synth work on this song, and I think it’s one of the reasons it sounds the way it does. Patrick knew that’s what I was going for — and since he even produced Pink Floyd, he nailed it. He’s a wonderful, wonderful musician. I can’t say enough about him.”

Lifehouse drummer Ricky Woolstenhulme, Jr. gave COLE and Leonard all the space they needed on “The Dark” to really stretch things out. “I asked Ricky to listen to some specific Pink Floyd records,” he reveals. “I mean, Nick Mason plays everything so painfully simple. He allows all the moving parts to do their job because he’s not in the way. Rick took all that to heart. He gave us a consistent bed of ride cymbal, kick and snare, topped with a few timeless drum fills. It really was fun to emulate that ’70s sound.”

Then there's COOLERATOR, with his take on The Charts’ rare gem “Deserie” (“one of the most beautiful doo-wop songs ever”), “Dear Dad” and Guitar Slim’s “It Hurts to Love Someone (When They Don’t Love You).”

“'COOLERATOR' is a piece of work that’s been over ten years in the making — and it’s not any sort of epic work you would think would take me ten years,” he says with a hearty laugh. “It was really just a pet project in between a lot of other hats, inspired by the true heart and soul of ’50s and ’60s doo-wop music.”

The overall intention for COOLERATOR was to keep it simple and look for the right performance, “I always wondered how they made those records and why are they so soulful… why they’re so moving. When you hear about ’50s music, it’s often bobby socks and malt shops. I know that’s part of the Americana culture, but it doesn’t really reflect the groups that were singing on the street corners.”