"COLD HANDS" A COLLECTION OF MICROCOSMS

Dust City Opera Returns With A New Multifarious EP

Albuquerque-based alt-rock band Dust City Opera is set to release their new EP “Cold Hands” on March 8th. With influences ranging from Radiohead to The Handsome Family to Alt-J, the EP represents a step forward in the band’s artistic evolution as they explored new creative possibilities in the recording process.

Crafted by the group’s lead singer and songwriter, Paul Hunton, “Cold Hands” journeys through stories of interstellar travel, cosmic eroticism, horror, humor, and dreamscapes. Each track unfolds as a unique world, with the collection tied together by a single, unifying thread: “The agony and ecstasy of transformation,” as Hunton relays.

“Cold Hands” was co-produced by Hunton along with Sydney Counce and Augustine Ortiz at The Decibel Foundry in Santa Fe, NM. The EP includes the collaboration of Carrie Leonard as co-writer of the equally haunting and beautiful, “King Friday,” and familiar guest musicians, Greg Williams and Alex McMahon, on the sinister track, “No One Is Saved.” 

Through a mystical union of folk and electronic instrumentation, “Cold Hands” is a further testament to Dust City Opera’s powerful storytelling. Since their formation in 2018, the band has continued to enthrall audiences with its unique alt-rock orchestra style and harrowing tales of sadness, madness, and mayhem. 

This forthcoming release follows a momentous year of accolades for the group, including Best Rock Album at the 2023 New Mexico Music Awards, and Top Rock Group at the 2023 New Mexico Entertainment Awards, among others. In 2023, they also signed with Rexius Records, continuing the recognition of their singular creative path.

Witness this supernatural collection of stories and sounds when “Cold Hands” is released on March 8th.

“Outrageously interesting arrangements!”  
-August March, Weekly Alibi  

“Best live show I’ve seen in Albuquerque!”  
-Bruce Ponder, Audience Member  

"A breath of fresh air"
-John R.F. Nichols, 5 Cent Productions

"I would love to see a movie based on this album!"
-Ashley Paskill [on Alien Summer], That Mag

“This [group] of unique artists and instrumentalists
are the epitome of vibrancy"

-The Aquarian

"Hunton's ... perfectly and poetically deranged  
sentiment can raise a smile as well as a shiver"  

-Mel Minter, Musically Speaking

"This gothic opera is sure to blow everyone away"
-Philip Laniere, 1st Day Fresh

“A very eclectic and energetic mix of styles”
- Josh Muncke, Sonic Perspectives

“Plays out like an epic drama…with their cinematic,
ambitious, splashy approach to music”

– Aaron Willschick, V13 Media 

“Satisfying new collection of songs”
– Kristy Rose, Top Shelf Music Magazine 

"[DCO takes] listeners on an intergalactic,
apocalyptic journey unlike ever before"

-Philip Laniere, 1st Day Fresh

GO TO RECENT NEWS

Albuquerque, NM, USA - February 21, 2023: Folk-rock outfit Dust City Opera announces a new recording deal with Swedish-based record label, Rexius Records. A 6-track EP, set for release in early 2024, will be the first project out of the new partnership. The group is planning an international tour, beginning in April 2024, to support the new release. 

DUST CITY OPERA

This unexpected alt-rock orchestra materialized out of Albuquerque, but they might as well have slipped through an intergalactic portal or stowed away on a derelict spacecraft before crashlanding in the desert.

Dust City Opera tells harrowing tales of sadness, madness, and mayhem. With each performance illuminating the space between death and humor, this quintet becomes the soundtrack to stories steeped in cosmic horror and transformation. 

In many ways, it fulfills frontman and sonic ringmaster Paul Hunton’s destiny. Under the influence of everything from H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King to Tom Waits and Soundgarden, he founded Dust City Opera at the top of 2018.