Cooper Kenward Streaming New Album 'haha, now I'm sad'

(LBPR) L.A.-based songwriter and instrumentalist Cooper Kenward today releases his third and most vividly realized album, haha, now I'm sad, out now via Soggy Anvil Records.

Written over several years but recorded live in just three days at Altamira Sound in Altadena, the record captures the electricity of collaboration with a close-knit group of friends and musicians. Just a month after the sessions, each of them lost their homes to the Los Angeles wildfires. This unthinkable tragedy lends even deeper resonance to the album's themes of resilience, presence, and finding joy in creation.

"This album will always be special to me because it was the last thing I recorded before the Eaton Canyon fires," says Kenward. "These songs will always remind me of Altadena and the little dining room table I wrote them at. That's what I love about music, its ability to work hand in hand with memory."

The album features a dream team of musicians, including Griffin Goldsmith (Dawes), Harrison Whitford (Phoebe Bridgers), Ryan Richter (Dijon), Caleb Buchanan (Still Woozy), Jesse McGinty (Cassandra Jenkins, Pharrell), Adam Moss (Zach Bryan), Tyler Nuffer (Lizzie McAlpine), and Robert Shelton (Meernaa, Lucius). Their collective spontaneity and camaraderie shine through, grounding the album's vivid contrasts of humor and melancholy with warmth and immediacy.

With haha, now I'm sad, Cooper Kenward affirms his place as one of indie rock's most incisive and imaginative storytellers-turning absurdity into clarity, chaos into empathy, and sadness into songs that feel both timeless and alive. Listen to the album here

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