Bradford Cox hath returned to us. In recent years, the Deerhunter frontman and Atlas Sound mastermind has been virtually inactive. Deerhunter and Atlas Sound both played their last shows in 2019. In 2023, Cox played a one-off set of seemingly improvised noise at a vintage market in Athens, Georgia, and that was pretty much it for this decade. But Atlas Sound was announced as a last-minute addition at Philadelphia's Making Time ∞ festival, and Cox finally returned with an entire set of new songs on Sunday.
Making Time ∞ is mostly but not exclusively an electronic festival. Cox played an altogether solo set on the festival's Transcendental Stage, accompanying his own vocals with bass, hand bells, and an SP-404MKII. He started off his set by leading the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday" to his mother Edie, who was attending the fest while turning 80, and he shouted out festival founder Dave P: "Thank you to Dave for having me because if it weren't for him, I might've stayed at home for another seven years."
After some technical difficulties, Cox played for about half an hour, doing an all-new eight-song set. It's hard to get too much of a read on those songs from a live video, but they were largely soft and ruminative, full of tender synth drones and echo-brushed vocals. It sure sounds like he's got another Atlas Sound album's worth of material. Also, he seemed to be in a good mood, which is encouraging. Maybe Cox will release those new songs in some form, and maybe he won't. Maybe he'll play more shows, or maybe he'll stay at home for another seven years after this. We don't know!
We do know, however, the names of the songs that Cox debuted during his set. At the end of the set, Cox handed out setlists and lyric sheets, signing them for fans. The setlist and lyrics were typed up in blue ink, stamped with "DRAFT" in red, as if they were official documents. Also, we have a video of his entire set, which you can watch below.
SETLIST:
01 "Octoberland"
02 "Arcadia"
03 "Akron"
04 "Day For Night"
05 "My Ship Sank In Daylight"
06 "Come And See"
07 "Roots Without A Tree"
08 "Kora"
