Even though there are some restrictions still in place and we can’t play shows, the worst of quarantine has passed, and we have entered a new phase. If your life in the last phase was like ours, you were caught inside with little to do besides eat, sleep, and wonder how to pay rent. We were forced to sit and wait. We weren’t necessarily waiting for any solutions -- I think most of us have little faith our government is up to the task of tackling a global pandemic. While other countries cancelled mortgages, rent, paid workers salaries, and used robust health care systems to test on a massive scale, we received one measly check that, in our case, covered only half of a couple months’ rent in an old coach house on the edge of Pilsen. And as we waited for COVID to pass, there was no reprieve from the gnawing anxiety coming from the need to produce. In person meetings were simply replaced with Zoom meetings and the living room or bedroom became an office. For others, COVID meant more time to focus on art and other projects that brought real joy into their lives. In this video, we asked our friends to chronicle their working lives during quarantine as our jobs and other responsibilities still demand our attention even as the global economy came to a halt. We asked our friends to define work however they liked and take a video of themselves “working”. Members of bands including Jeraf, Blacker Face, Gilt Drip, Jovan Landry, Mermaid N.V.., DXTR Spits, Nexus J., Sex No Babies, Cloudtone, and of course Cordoba are featured in this video.

Like virtually everyone else, we were not expecting the uprisings that began in late-May following the brutal and racist murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Tony McDade. The anxiety that grew all during quarantine as we were forced to be productive in a time in the middle of a boring dystopia finally exploded in Chicago on 5/30. It was so empowering to finally act collectively, to leave each of our quarantine islands and demand justice together. This song and video comes from a world before these protests. It comes from a time when we were stuck and home with nowhere to go and like always, we continued working.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfHjy9SAPB4&feature=youtu.be

All proceeds from the single go to support Black Lives Matter Chicago and Brave Space Alliance. You can find links to donate to them and buy the single here: https://linktr.ee/cordoba

“Diluvian” is the first single off of our debut LP, Specter. Like much of the record, it’s apocalyptic. The dueling lead vocals of Cordoba lead singers Brianna Tong and Eric Novak lament the inability of our structures and movements to deal with the impending catastrophes of the 21st century. The lyrics paint pictures of floods and confrontation. The band rides the wave of the song as the primary groove develops, disappears, and reemerges. This song features Zach Bain-Selbo on keys and Eric Novak on sax. Zach also mixed the song.