COLD * WORDS // Regan Hughes On His Latest Single ‘Kill Me, Please?’

Oz alt-rock fans, meet Cold*Words.

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The project is the brainchild of Regan Hughes, who’s unleashed all kinds of emotion on his richly textured, and not as depressing as it sounds, latest single, Kill Me, Please? Following its release, we got Hughes to talk us through his history, how the track came together and more.

Hysteria: Tell us about your musical journey and what inspired this new project.

Regan: Music’s my total passion, so when my last band Left For Wolves broke up, I didn’t want to stop. The music I was writing was different, so I just went along with it. It was a lot more melodic, rockier and alternative. It was more suited to the influences I had as a child.

Who would you say those influences were?

A lot of grunge bands like Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots. And then alternative bands like Faith No More and Deftones. A lot of those bands from the 2000s, that’s when I was getting into music the most.

Run us through the new single Kill Me, Please?

I usually write the music and then the lyrics come after. But this song started with a lyric. I was in lockdown, and I had reached that moment where the line Kill Me, Please? came into my mind. I thought I needed something else to go with it, and I had some rhymes like “mind at ease”. I wrote the music after that and it fit with the lyrics. The juxtaposition worked well for me too. It was melodic, but the lyrics were quite dark and it crossed over back and forth.

The song is written, recorded, engineered, mixed and mastered by me. I think it’s a good way to get one person’s story. It’s truly and honestly me and no one else. It’s quite real.
[ Regan Hughes ]

How much did the pandemic influence your mindset going into this?

It’s been 100% inspired by the pandemic. The lyrics even mention it with the line about disease. For me, it could be an addiction, a bad relationship or it could be this disease. It’s actually my newest song too. I have older songs I could’ve put out first but this one just felt right. I wrote it last in the lockdown and I needed it to come out now. It all just fell into one.

How’d it come together?

I actually write and record everything myself. The song is written, recorded, engineered, mixed and mastered by me. I think it’s a good way to get one person’s story. It’s truly and honestly me and no one else. It’s quite real.

Can you share any details on those other singles?

At the moment, I’m working on the next single and will also be putting together a music video for it. That should come out at the start of next year. It’s a progression of the sound, and it’ll be familiar but different to Kill Me, Please?

Speaking of music videos, tell us about your experience putting the Kill Me, Please? one together.

I’ve worked with Ben from Third Eye Visuals quite a few times. We got together, and I shared my idea: confessing to myself in a confession booth. That’s how it took on such religious connotations. We ended up cutting out me talking to myself and instead did me talking to a priest. Our ideas combined and bloomed into something unique. I think it has its own life now.

What do you want people to take away from the track?

I just want people to relate to it or realise that we can all get to the point where things feel too much. That’s really the title of the song, but the last line says, “I just want my mind at ease.” That says we don’t need to worry; we all get to that point but don’t give up because there’ll be a better day. It’s a feeling of resolve and relief.

Purchase and stream here.