Three Things by COSMIC SOULS (Interview 2026)

Edition Ninety-Seven – Week Ninety-Seven; Unit 2:

Written by: Mercedes Barreto

Cosmic Souls — Artist Introduction

There is a certain freedom that comes from refusing to fit neatly into a category. Cosmic Souls have built their musical identity around that idea, creating dark, expressive, and often uncompromising music that moves between melancholic atmosphere, heavy rock, progressive elements, experimentation, and complex rhythmic structures.

The three-member project came together through a shared dissatisfaction with the musical and cultural environment around them. Rather than attempting to conform to established expectations, Cosmic Souls developed their own approach—one that embraces contrast, experimentation, and independence. Their own description of the music speaks of “polyrhythmic chaos,” while their artistic philosophy places particular value on remaining outside conventional systems.

That philosophy can be heard throughout their recent work. “My Room,” released in August 2026, approaches conformity and the education system through dark humor, examining the ways people are taught to perform obedience and fit into predetermined social roles.

Their September 2026 single “Three Things” takes a considerably heavier and more confrontational musical and lyrical approach. Inspired by ideas associated with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and the band’s reflections on social and political developments following 9/11, the track explores mistrust, fear, conformity, power, morality, and individual freedom.

What makes Cosmic Souls particularly interesting is the tension at the center of their work: melancholy alongside aggression, experimentation alongside structure, and personal expression alongside observations about the world around them. They aren’t simply interested in making heavy music; they use heaviness, rhythm, atmosphere, and contrast as tools for examining the human experience.

Short Review — “Three Things”

“Three Things” is a dark and forceful piece of progressive-minded rock that immediately establishes an atmosphere of tension. A guitar-led opening gives way to driving drums and increasingly intense instrumentation, creating the feeling of something gathering momentum beneath the surface.

The track’s musical dynamics are particularly effective. Cosmic Souls allow the arrangement to move between heavier passages and moments where the vocals and lyrics become more exposed. That contrast gives the song room to breathe while keeping its underlying intensity intact.

Lyrically, “Three Things” is concerned with resistance to conformity and the pressures that can encourage people to accept systems or ideas without questioning them. The band’s recurring three-part philosophy—built around trust, fear, and pleading—provides the song with a memorable structural and thematic center.

Rather than separating the music from its message, Cosmic Souls make the two work together. The heavy instrumentation creates an emotional weight that reinforces the song’s subject matter, while the quieter passages give the words space to land.

“Three Things” ultimately feels less like a conventional rock single and more like a musical confrontation—a song designed to make the listener stop, question, and engage with what is happening beneath the surface.

Q&A

For readers discovering Cosmic Souls for the first time, how would you introduce the band and your music?

“Well, “music for outsiders and losers and those who want to become one” has always worked well to frighten off potential hangers-on. But you can also call us an indie band that can actually play its instruments.

The three of you met by chance. What do you remember about the beginning of that relationship and how Cosmic Souls eventually developed?

The band has existed since 2001, but the final line-up was formed after the band split up and reformed, when Mario (guitars) and Erik (drums) joined somewhere around 2009. Since then, we started rearranging old songs that had originally been written by Ed (singer).

What we mean by saying “met by chance” is that Ed wasn’t simply trying to fill the positions of drummer and guitarist back then. It was much more important to find minds with a certain level of intellectuality and an understanding of musical texture itself, which happens very rarely. That’s why we don’t have a bassist. Since all three of us are multi-instrumentalists, we prerecord the bass and play as a trio with a click and bass track.”

Was there a particular moment when you realized that the three of you had found a distinctive musical chemistry?

“Well, it took a while to form our final sound, but we knew each other from jamming. Erik and Mario knew each other from playing in a jazz trio called B Flat, and Ed had previously recorded some projects with both of them. So there was a lot of mutual respect before forming Cosmic Souls. It’s hard to tell — maybe we still haven’t. We actually don’t talk in such terms. We just follow a distinct path of creativity and a vision that develops in front of us while we arrange or write a song.
So the chemistry of Cosmic Souls was already there; it just needed a push in the right direction.

But all three of us are creative on our instruments. Everyone develops ideas, and at a certain moment, the vision just falls into place.”

How did your shared dissatisfaction with the music and culture around you influence the band’s earliest creative direction?

“Well, I guess the answer is simply in the songs we wrote. What you hear in our actual releases today are songs that were created around that time.”

Where can we hear more, and why should we?

“It’s completely up to you. Maybe you shouldn’t.
But we have a lot more songs coming. We release them on all platforms, while the newest releases are available on Tune.fm and Bandcamp ahead of time. You can get the latest information on our Telegram account or our homepage.”