Cold Beaches Find Beauty in the Grey on New Album 'Ambient Joy'

Indie-jazz outfit channels grief, growth, and gratitude on their most introspective work yet.

Parisian indie-jazz project Cold Beaches, led by DC-born songwriter Sophia Nadia, have unveiled their sweeping new album 'Ambient Joy,' a shimmering 11-track meditation on grief, love, and the strange, quiet beauty of everyday life. The record is anchored by its tender lead single 'Up and Down,' a moving reflection on the disorienting aftermath of losing a close friend.

Written over several years and recorded at Rome’s Forward Studios with producer Lucas Christoff and engineer Francesco Putorti, Ambient Joy is both expansive and intimate. Nadia is joined by Paolo Garoute (drums), Simon Xie (bass), and Tristan David (guitar), creating a lush, jazz-inflected soundscape that balances dreamy melodies with emotional weight.

“'Ambient Joy' is about finding joy in the things that may not seem as exciting,” says Nadia. “You learn to be grateful for the monotony as opposed to life-altering events or trauma. It’s about trying to find your way, alone or with those you love, in a world that’s both tragic and beautiful.”

Lead single 'Up and Down' captures this duality perfectly, layering raw, unpolished vocals over a grand piano to evoke the limbo before grief sets in. “You don’t realise someone has passed away, so you keep searching for them until you get the news that they are gone,” Nadia explains - a sentiment that makes the track a heartbreakingly human centrepiece to the record.

From the whimsical bilingual opener 'Bound to You' to the reflective closer 'Could Be,' 'Ambient Joy' is an album that thrives on contrast - light and shadow, fantasy and reality, heartbreak and hope.

Cold Beaches have been steadily building a reputation since emerging from a Richmond, Virginia bedroom project in 2015. Along the way, they’ve shared stages with Crumb, Slow Pulp, and Boyscott.

Fans can celebrate the new record at the 'Ambient Joy' release party at Supersonic in Paris on 24th September, with a fresh line of merch dropping alongside the show.