Seattle's SuperCoze Returns With New Single ‘Happy Mind’

Jun 18

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As society collectively creeps toward whatever is about to be our “new normal,” queer singer-songwriter SuperCoze, a.k.a. Seattle’s Cody Choi, is doing the same. They just unearthed their new single “Happy Mind,” their first release since their debut album, Rainy Day Sunshine.

The debut LP was released in March 2020, just as the world entered an unprecedented period of pandemic turmoil. Choi recalls planning their final show around the album’s release, one of the final days in-person gatherings were allowed in Seattle.

“It's a room that could hold like 200 people in it, so I felt like this crushing, ‘Oh gosh, like, should I have the show? Should I not have the show? I don't want people to get sick.’”

The show carried forward with a supplemental livestream option and marked one of the last times Choi performed live until recently. The timing was disappointing, but the lockdown shed a different light on the record’s content, often sweet on the surface while diving deep into more difficult conversations lyrically.

“I felt like maybe it was nice to have something of those themes out when everyone was kind of, like, really anxious,” Choi said. They admit the plucky strings and sing-song melodies they often flirt with resonate with many folks, while others might get the same mental solace from a hard-as-hell, deathcore track.

The exceptionally bright and whimsical illustration on the cover of Rainy Day Sunshine feels right at home with Choi’s all-around aesthetic, bursting with color, their music heavily influenced by beach rock of the past. Choi clearly has an interest in a variety ideas, with tracks off their debut boasting funky synths, carefree guitars, even two harp interludes, but their sultry vocals are always front-and-center.

Their sound often feels at home with fellow Seattleites, indie punk band Tacocat, while consistently pulling in the breezy, beachy vibes of other indie artists, like the lo-fi dream pop of Tennis. The latter holds true in their new single, “Happy Mind,” as sunny as ever, even as society navigates toward its own post-pandemic future. Their vocals have a vintage twang, embraced by a persistent guitar riff, playful synthesizers, and intermittent, spoken-word vocal samples.

“[‘Happy Mind’] actually does relate quite a bit to being in the pandemic, because the song is about like healing from codependency, which I'm sure a lot of people had to deal with while in quarantine, at least with like people that maybe weren't like living with a partner before then suddenly are,” Choi said. They wrote the song for their partner’s birthday, and after unveiling it to them, decided to release it as a their first 2021 single.

“A lot of it had to do with just like healing from kind of just being stuck inside and having to force your way through your feelings.”

As a nonbinary, bisexual, and biracial aritst, SuperCoze is used to not belonging to a single category, and they say that translates directly to their music and the directions they wish to go moving forward.

“It can be very frustrating, in a world that wants you to fit into that binary. So, I find that with music, it kind of pushes me to not stay in that one category, because I'm already so used to it, like I'm already used to how uncomfortable it can be to not have a definite idea of what you are to other people, so you kind of let go of that need to prove who you are a little bit.”

<a href="https://supercoze.bandcamp.com/track/happy-mind">Happy Mind by SuperCoze</a>

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Keegan Williams is a freelance writer, copy editor, and artist based in Los Angeles, CA. They are a nonbinary Scorpio infatuated with goth stuff and girl pop.

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