The Cowards are back with their second album released via Bloody Sound!

Friday 19 June 2026 marks the return of Cowards with Can You Hear Me?, their new album released via Bloody Sound on LP and digital. A year after their debut, God Hates Cowards, the Italian trio venture further into their own sonic and emotional territory, delivering an album that cements their identity while expanding its expressive reach. The album is preceded by the single Fear of Fear.

Where the debut was rooted in an intensely introspective dimension, Can You Hear Me? turns its gaze outward: personal unrest merges with a wider narrative, in which individual emotional collapse reflects a broader systemic breakdown. The question Can you hear me? lingers unanswered — suspended within a landscape shaped by global tension, disorientation and the erosion of shared meaning.

Cowards’ sonic language remains grounded in noise, post-punk and shoegaze, while becoming more nuanced and texturally layered. Abrasive guitars intertwine with more spacious, atmospheric passages, as the rhythm section drives forward with density and intent, underpinning vocal lines that feel urgent, exposed and unflinching.

Across its eight tracks, the album unfolds as a continuous emotional current, defined by instability and sustained tension. Fear, alienation, anger and emptiness are not simply described, but transposed into sound — balancing saturation and restraint within a tightly controlled dynamic.

At its core lies the theme of fear, understood not only as an emotion but as a self-perpetuating mechanism that shapes behaviour and imposes limits. Once brought into the open, however, it reveals its inherent fragility. In this sense, Can You Hear Me? operates as a process of deconstruction, where emotion becomes language and music a means of rendering the invisible perceptible.

BIO
Cowards are a noise/shoegaze/post-punk power trio from Italy, formed in 2019. Their sound is deeply rooted in 1990s aesthetics, blending abrasive guitars, layered noise textures and echoes of dream-pop and grunge. Following the premature loss of their original drummer, the band found renewed momentum with Michele Prosperi, joining Luca Piccinini (vocals, guitar) and Giulia Tanoni (vocals, bass). In 2025 they released their debut album God Hates Cowards via Bloody Sound, performing extensively across Italian clubs and festivals. With Can You Hear Me?, they expand their artistic vision from the personal to the collective, while preserving their raw and uncompromising edge.

Stream / Buy / Download the album on Bandcamp

CREDITS

Michele Prosperi | drums

Giulia Tanoni | vocals, bass

Luca Piccinini | vocals, guitar

All songs written and arranged by Cowards
Recording and mixing | Maurizio Minestroni @ Minestudio in Recanati, Italy
Digital and vinyl mastering | Filippo Passamonti @ VDSS Studio in Frosinone, Italy
Artwork | Iaia
Photos | Matteo Palmieri

Cowards:

Facebook Instagram Bandcamp Youtube

Thank you very much PEYOTE

I am not the owner of the picture, video or original song. Therefore, all rights belong to their respective owners. If you are the owner of the picture, video or any of the songs, write me a private message located on the information page and I will delete the video, photos immediately!!

Photo by © Cowards promo