Tarragon has released his brand new single ‘Tucked In Despair’, the latest song to be taken from this forthcoming second album Home At Cofa’s out May 1st.
‘Tucked In Despair’ finds Tarragon mastermind Callum Pickard addressing the feelings of settling into a serious relationship with soaring musings in the grand yet solemn track. It is rich in Callum’s warped electronics, gentle guitar and piano tones, alongside minimalist percussion and drum programming.
The song is bolstered by a beautiful brass section performed by Bon Iver’s CJ Camerieri (flugelhorn, french horn) and The 1975’s John Waugh (tenor saxophone). Additional percussion is performed by JT Bates of Big Red Machine as well as James McAlister (The National, Sufjan Stevens, Gracie Abrams) who also provides further electronics on the track.
The song has been produced, mixed and engineered by Callum, with additional production from the Latin-GRAMMY nominated Juan Ariza, while mastering engineers Greg Calbi (John Lennon, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen) and Steve Fallone (Pet Shop Boys, The Strokes, Kurt Vile) have put their finishing touches to the track.
Regarding the single Callum says, “This was the first song I worked on for the album and spent a long time on it. It had many versions, but I’m extremely proud of the final product. I wrote it during my first romantic relationship. It’s a song about becoming familiar with the feelings and emotions that I felt as that relationship developed.”
‘Tucked In Despair’ follows the release of lead single ‘Kiss Me On The Line (feat. My Brightest Diamond)’, the dreamy song introduced the new album and featured further collaborators including The War on Drugs’ Dave Hartley and Robbie Bennett as well as Bobby Hawk (Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat, Taylor Swift). The song was quick to draw strong support, featured as BBC Introducing’s Track Of The Week in Coventry as well as included in The Independent’s Tracks Of The Week.
The forthcoming album Home At Cofa’s is a beautifully expansive and immersive record of ethereal indie electronica. While the music here is firmly the result of collaboration, the story of Home At Cofa’s - titled after the legendary Cofa’s Tree that gave Coventry its name - is all Callum’s. Fittingly, it’s a record all about belonging; how you fit into a city that sometimes feels like the wrong shape, how you move through life trying to adapt and grow with others, and what the notion of home means anyway.
Alongside this, Callum was funding the making of the record through a series of jobs as a Covid tester (which he details on ‘Reel Lives’), a Deliveroo cyclist and, now, a postman for the Royal Mail. All extremely public-facing roles that gave him a window into the full spectrum of Coventry life around him, and the people existing within it.
It’s this unique mix – slightly removed social observation and frontline immersion; solitary working but with a group of peripheral musicians around him – which makes Tarragon a truly intriguing proposition. On Home At Cofa’s, Pickard has found a way to communicate all of it in his own musical language. “It’s been a labour of love,” he says. “Even more than anything I’ve done before, with this album I wanted to go the extra mile.”
HOME AT COFA’S TRACK LISTING
- Dice
- Kiss Me On The Line (feat. My Brightest Diamond)
- Tucked In Despair
- Blueprint
- Home At Cofa’s
- Catching Full On
- Reel Lives
- Cold To The Bone
- Recover Your Light
- MDM
- Small Colt Leader
- Hail Hollow
- It’s Time We Go Now (Trading Hearts)