By Daniel Warren Hill
Founded by Douglas Elder after completing his tenure as singer and guitarist for The Wrecking, CS Survival Kit is a Maine-based artist collective that began releasing music together in 2021 with the launch of two EPs, Vol. I and Vol. II. Elder is joined by Michael Jones as the principal songwriters for CS Survival Kit; the “CS” stands for “Cold Soul,” and is also a nod to The Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis. The music of CS Survival Kit is reflective of the band’s association with spiritual themes throughout their music without necessarily being religiously specific; choosing to rather express and inspire creativity in music, lyrics, and art with concepts surrounding empowerment and community in a way that resonates with fans of artists like Biffy Clyro, Switchfoot, and Keane.
Following the band’s first single of 2022, “Like I’m Known,” the latest single by CS Survival Kit is “One in a Million,” a ballad intended to inspire listeners to find courage through dark times and to remind us of the power just one person holds. The song seems to gradually lift as it progresses; orchestral drums push an unassuming but incredibly effective piano arpeggio into a state of tension eventually broken by a rousing chorus as elegant guitar tones add a colorful contrast.
Some other contributors to CS Survival Kit in the past have included Joe Camp, Patrick Arnold, and Charles Ellingwood, but as Jones mentions, “The project is kind of cool in that we have a little bit of a revolving door of musicians coming in and out as songs dictate,” and the collective imagines the possibility they may branch off into other art forms. “I love poetry. I love visual arts,” says Elder, “I fully expect that maybe we’d have some songs that are female lead vocals at times. I just like the idea of keeping a lot of options open.” Elder and Jones describe the therapeutic and spiritual nature of writing, recording, and documenting their creations and the sheer necessity to keep creating.
“Even if nobody heart it, we’d have to get it off our chest,” says Elder, but with previous releases receiving thousands of plays on Spotify alone, people are not only listening, but engaging with CS Survival Kit and the uplifting messages discovered throughout their music. Check out “One in a Million” below and find more great music on the Alchemical Records Multigenre Mixture playlist on Spotify.
Daniel Warren Hill is an American musician, writer, and motivational speaker. He is best known as the frontman for Washington DC area Alternative Rock band YellowTieGuy, as co-founder of Capitol Groove Collective, and increasing the exposure of artists on a global scale through his work with Alchemical Records.
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Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
