Cold Specks

Cold Specks is the stage name of Somali Canadian singer-songwriter Ladan Hussein,^[1] who was previously known as Al Spx.^[2] Her music has been described as doom-soul. The name Cold Specks is taken from a line in James Joyce's Ulysses ("Born all in the dark wormy earth, cold specks of fire, evil lights shining in the darkness.").

She released her debut album, I Predict a Graceful Expulsion, on May 21, 2012, on Mute Records and Arts & Crafts in Canada.^[3] The album was a short-listed nominee for the 2012 Polaris Music Prize.^[4]

Her second album, Neuroplasticity, was released on August 26, 2014.^[5] It featured trumpet playing by Ambrose Akinmusire and backing vocals from Michael Gira of Swans, was supported in part by selected dates opening for Sufjan Stevens on his Carrie & Lowell Tour,^[6] and was long-listed for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize.^[7] Her third album, Fool's Paradise, followed in 2017.^[8]

Following Fool's Paradise, Hussein suffered a mental-health breakdown and underwent several months of treatment at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, where she was diagnosed with schizophrenia.^[9] In 2025 she released Light for the Midnight, her first full-length album since her health issues.^[10] It was long-listed for the 2025 Polaris Music Prize.^[11]