A Conversation with Colin Tracey, Better Known as Comfort Club, About Missing Someone, Managing Life's Challenges and Moving On

Press photo by Natalie Minguez

Have you been through a breakup that left you feeling shattered and alone? Are you pondering what it means to grow through your twenties and find purpose? Well, so is Colin Tracey, better known as Comfort Club, and through his debut album, Fear of Moving On, he explores the feelings of those of us who love too hard, struggle to let go, and are afraid to be alone. 

In an interview with Pleaser, Tracey said this album is a creative project that allowed him to cope with the complicated emotions of his first true heartbreak. “Feeling like I wasn’t good enough for someone I loved made me feel like I wasn’t good enough for anyone,” he said. 

“Two Kids In A Trenchcoat” is the first song and one Tracey said exemplifies the key themes of the album best. Originally released as a single, “Two Kids In A Trenchcoat,” follows a familiar post-breakup narrative: feeling like the love you had to give wasn’t enough. Tracey uses select images and scenes to craft a story that listeners can really relate to, specifically those of us who have gone through this sort of ending before. For example, 

Now I cry every morning 

As I wait for the shower warming up

And I thought crying was your thing

I guess I just couldn't get enough

Waking up after a traumatic event and having the world still be the way you left it is a raw, visceral image that many listeners can relate to. Emotions seep in swiftly, clouding the day before it even begins. Tracey also illustrates how parts of normal life weave into the memories of your previous partner. In this case, crying is boiled down to the remnants of the relationship. 

The chorus repeats, 

And you said you'll stay forever even when you know you won't, 

Cause we're just two kids in a trench coat, 

Trying to both feel less alone

These few lines display naivety and youth so simply. The couple tried to make themselves into one, but ultimately, the facade was shattered. Describing a relationship as children playing a game in a jacket so perfectly represents what love is, especially in your twenties. It's messy, it's chaotic, partners are immature, and so are we. We try to act like adults who are put together but we’re all falling apart at the same time. 

In describing why this track was his favorite, Tracey said that. “On paper, it wouldn't make the most sense, but the song is so tied to the emotions the album itself evokes. If people are connected to this truly emotional piece, then they'll be on for the whole ride.”

In being such a vulnerable album, I asked Tracey what the hardest part of his music creation process was. “For me, a lot of it is the disconnect between the hours of when you want to make music and when you have time to actually do it,” he explained. “Because I have a nine-to-five, there is a gap sometimes in when I’m inspired by something and when I actually have time to do something about it.”

Tracey went on a self-run US tour to promote the new album, making stops from LA to Detroit, to our very own New York City. 

Photo by Shauna Hilferty

I had the pleasure of watching his performance along with about 100 other people at the Mercury Lounge in the Lower East Side of New York City on May 19th, a Sunday evening. The lights were low, the drums were kicking, and Comfort Club was ready for action. Accompanied by his brother Brendan Tracey on bass and drummer Jacob Stockman, it was an intimate venue, the perfect setting for such an emotional set of music. As an incredibly anxious person, one of the things I often presume is that I am unique in how I perceive the world. Being in a room like this reminds me how similar we all are. 

Tracey has actually been to Mercury Lounge before, back in 2021. “I actually had a TikTok go viral about playing the gig there [The Mercury Lounge], and we sold it out!” He told me. “So it feels really special to be able to come back and play again. Right now, the room is about half sold out for The Fear Of Moving On tour, so it's going to be really fun.” 

In our conversation about TikTok, we circled around to discuss social media more generally. Tracey said apps like Instagram and TikTok have benefited his career so far, commenting on how they allow more people to view his work in multiple mediums.

He also said, “Social media has been a good way to connect with people and have them show positive feedback on my work. People can interact and we talk back and forth, yeah, I think I have a pretty healthy relationship with social media. It’s been nothing but positive,” he said. 

I am 24, and I’m at an incredibly introspective point in my life where I’m pondering my place in the world and how to find success, whatever that even means in society today. Conveniently enough, so has Comfort Club, so one new song I found to love at the Sunday concert was “20’s,” a single released in 2022.  He asks us two main questions in the bridge: 

How long until my world starts making sense?

I’m sick of coming home to all this emptiness

How long until my walls stop caving in?

It can be incredibly overwhelming at times to have the whole expanse of life in front of you. Passion is sometimes provided to us through school or sports or extracurriculars, but once that structure ends, finding a purpose independently can be daunting. Not to mention navigating life's relationships and bureaucracies as a true independent adult. Summarized as such in the chorus, “cause I'm lost as f*ck in my 20s / Nothing’s adding up and I’m running out of places to run.”

Photo by Lauren Nieves

I’ve been a fan for a while, so my favorite song Comfort Club performed was towards the end of the night, the 2019 single, “New Ways to Miss You.” Yes, a song about a breakup. Sensing a pattern here? More specifically, though, the message delves into how the reminders of the people we used to be with are integrated into the small things we do every day. 

The track ends with what I think summarizes what Tracey is considering throughout his discography,

I know I'll be alright it'll just take time

But lately all I do, 

Is find new ways to miss you

Ending a relationship does not mean the feelings dissipate. We all know the feeling of not being able to let someone go, the ways you miss them evolve in different ways as time goes on. Is that feeling just a fear of moving on? Or is that the definition of love?