The Coolest in the World by Kilden is a sepia-soaked hymn to euphoric freedom –

Kilden painted a melodic folk-rock panorama with the sun-streaked single, The Coolest in the World. While rooted in the laid-back haze of 70s California, the release spills far beyond vintage Americana comfort. It’s a love letter to unshakeable connection, woven with organ glissandos, indie croons, and a voice that carries far more than timbre and lyricism. It’s heatwaves through warped film reels, it’s freedom caught mid-drift, it’s Brussels-born Kilden building dioramas of faraway lands with a deeply cultivated instinct for atmospheric storytelling.

You’d put money on him being a Laurel Canyon native, the way the soundscapes sprawl and swell like they’ve been kissed by Pacific breezes. But there’s a more poignant irony bubbling under the mellow ease. Titularly, The Coolest in the World hints at irony, at understatement, at anti-panache, but it becomes a euphoric expression of how weightless love can make you feel. The kind that makes you forget everyone else, the kind that gets you drunk without a drop, the kind that has you hovering somewhere above expectation and convention.

Timeless in tone and timely in the escapism it delivers, The Coolest in the World is a sepia-soaked salvation for the soul-starved. Kilden may be thousands of miles from California, but this track makes sure the warmth finds you.

The Coolest in the World is now available on all major streaming platforms, including SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast