LLOYD COLE

When Lloyd Cole and his band, The Commotions, hit the British music scene in 1984 with their seminal album, Rattlesnakes, it was as if pop music’s IQ had suddenly jumped by several points. Cole looked like a young Elvis but wrote like Leonard Cohen and, despite a naive approach to recording, the band waxed some of the most memorable pop-guitar hooks of that decade on their debut album, blending the jangle of The Byrds with melancholic country lines that wouldn’t have been out of place on a Johnny Cash record.

Now three decades into a rich solo career, Cole is back with a new long-player, Guesswork, that touches on themes as diverse as drone strikes and the fault-lines of relationships. Despite its layers of synth, Cole says the album’s coolly meditative songs originated on Telecasters and acoustic guitars, familiar tools with which he has crafted a highly respected body of work. We joined him to talk about songwriting, how guitars have shaped his music and recall how classic Commotions tracks came together.

The new album feels quite a departure from some of your previous records, sonically. What were you aiming for?

“I have to admit my working title for the project, for the first two years or so, was ‘ meets . It didn’t really happen like that. I think because the idea was not specific enough, I wasn’t able to write anything. Maybe I just needed a break from writing. I only seem able to write songs, these days, if I have a very strong