Col3trane (real name Cole Basta) is an 18-year-old, London-based newcomer making post-Blonde pop music. His latest song "Penelope" snakes between the taut, rolling percussion of the verses and a gooey, synth-warmed chorus, telling a poetic story while weaving together influences from the hip-hop and R&B collectives he's been part of throughout his teens. In the video, directed by Prince's personal photographer Nicole Nodland, Basta is either totally alone — submerged in water, hunched over in the forest — or drinking his way through a blurry night with friends.
“‘Penelope’ is inspired by two romantic stories from The Odyssey," Basta explained in en email to The FADER. "In The Odyssey, Penelope is the motivation for the long and dangerous journey that Odysseus takes. Along the way, he has a spell cast over him by a nymph called Calypso, who he falls in love with, but only to drive him insane and make him realize what the purpose of his journey was in the first place. I found these stories mad interesting and just kept reading and writing about them, and when me and Jay [Mooncie, producer] started working on the music that would become 'Penelope' I knew what I was gonna write about.” Watch above, and look out for his debut mixtape later this year.
Col3trane
Harvey Pearson
