GUV is back and brighter than ever. The long-running, shape-shifting project of Ben Cook—known for his work with No Warning and Fucked Up—has announced its next bold chapter with Warmer Than Gold, set for release January 30 via Run For Cover Records. The new record finds Cook expanding his signature guitar pop into a kaleidoscopic fusion of Britpop hooks, breakbeats, and shimmering indie textures. To mark the announcement, he’s shared the vibrant lead single “Let Your Hands Go,” a euphoric burst of jangly guitars and pulsing rhythms that recalls Top of the Pops circa 1990.
Warmer Than Gold was crafted across continents with a dream lineup of collaborators including James Matthew Seven, Darcy Baylis, Hatchie, Meg Mills of Turnstile, and more. The album builds on Cook’s acclaimed Young Guv releases but injects them with a newfound sense of rhythm and motion. “Warmer Than Gold is about slipping through two worlds,” Cook explains. “One ruled by luxury and the worship of status, and another that feels like an escape, a dream you can almost touch. It’s about buses, trains, planes, about big dreams in solitude, finding something real despite everything trying to erase it.”
Drawing from influences like Madchester, trip-hop, and early shoegaze, Warmer Than Gold is a cinematic and deeply personal work—one that reflects Cook’s life moving between Toronto and London. It’s filled with soaring choruses, lush soundscapes, and heart-on-sleeve lyricism. Songs like “Blue Jade,” “Chasin Luv,” and “Seaside Story” evoke the rush of late-night city lights and fleeting connections, while tracks like “Never Should Have Said” (featuring Hatchie) and the title cut offer poignant reflections on beauty, loss, and rediscovery.
At once nostalgic and forward-looking, Warmer Than Gold captures Ben Cook’s evolution as a musician and storyteller. “I’ve been searching for ways to bring the fleeting into focus,” he says. “To make the invisible parts of myself real. Warmer Than Gold is another step in that journey.”
Tracklist:
- Let Your Hands Go
- Blue Jade
- Warmer Than Gold
- Thorns In My Heart
- Out of This Place
- Chasin Luv
- Seaside Story
- Oscillating
- Hello Miss Blue
- Never Should Have Said
- Crash Down Feeling
- September Grey