‘Pool’, the second single by art-pop quintet Bridal Party from their forthcoming LP Cool Down outlines the joy and challenge of coming out of your shell after periods of isolation. The lyrics of ‘Pool’ were penned by guitarist Joseph Leroux in a demo in early 2019, their mantra-like simplicity inspired by the Porches album of the same name. “I wanted the lyrics to feel potent and understated. They were written with building myself up in mind, in a time when I was looking for a lot of validation from other people. I wanted to remind myself with a song, of the value of choosing yourself and choosing periods of quiet, before coming back into your communities.”

Drummer Adrain Heim listened to the track and felt it differently: “I felt like in Joe’s demo the verse was actually the chorus and the chorus was the verse” says Heim. With this reversal in mind, Heim’s triplet shuffle enacted a more fluid and collaborative songwriting process that would come to define Cool Down. 

The band worked with the song in a rehearsal setting before bringing it to the studio and producer Connor Head. Head helped imagine additional sonic textures that unfolded the band’s nascent studio pop sound. Vocalist Suzannah Raudaschl took Leroux’ initial vocal melody and added nuance and layers of harmony. The final track lives somewhere between Men I Trust’s ‘Lauren’ and Khruangbin’s ‘People Everywhere (Still Alive)’, while existing as something exquisitely unique and joyful.