Jaala is a four-piece band based in Melbourne, Australia. Led by the enigmatic vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Cosima (Manglewurzel) she is backed by band members Loretta Wilde on bass, Maria Moles on drums and Nic Lam on guitar.
They have been quick to receive critical praise from Pitchfork, and NME, calling Cosima a “perfectly abstract pop-star”, and were named the “Festival standout” by Financial Times UK for their performance at BigSound. Their sound is a cathartic blend of jangly indie-rock and proggy art-pop with Cosima’s song writing plunges into heavy depths of the heart, sharing both dreams, losses and personal chaos all delivered with the vulnerable honesty of her unique voice. In her own words she explains how Jaala came about: “Jaala is what I've always referred to as 'bedroom music.' Songs perhaps too personal to share and usually created as a way of navigating and understanding the deep sea heavy feels.
Their debut record, ‘Hard Hold’, released in November 2015 on Wondercore Island, was recorded in Coburg in a burst of energy one week in April. Produced and engineered by their good friend Paul Bender (Hiatus Kaiyote) it was tracked live with limited overdubbing keeping as close as possible to the live energy of the songs as they were first written and performed.