M(h)aol - Something Soft - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Something Soft, the second full-length album by Irish post-punk firebrands M(h)aol, is anything but. From the first note of it's propulsive opening track to the distorted cries of it's last, Something Soft feels antagonistic to the very concept of softness, sonically and thematically, taking an unapologetic approach to intersectional feminism, animal welfare, consumerism, and the struggle to find a place in a world lacking in empathy. What M(h)aol offers is catharsis, in two forms the kind you get from being open with others, and the kind you get from righteously smashing some S**t up.Effectively channeling rage and empathy is an act of resilience, and to make Something Soft, M(h)aol had to become especially resilient. Following their acclaimed debut Attachment Styles, M(h)aol's line-up changed, settling on the core trio of Constance Keane (drums/vocals, she/her), Jamie Hyland (bass/vocals, she/her), and Sean Nolan (guitar, he/him). That process changed the band's approach to songwriting and performing, resulting in an unexpected breakthrough where many groups have folded. Something Soft features a more urgent sound wound tightly around Hyland and Keane's rhythm. On songs like InchPursuitInch and InchSnare,Inch Keane's vocals lock in on her drums, as if her words were stirred to life by her playing, issued directly from her body. Set against those respectively anxious and swaggering tracks, her voice occupies the space of an inner monologue narrating a tense walk home, and green room misogyny from a place of droll observance, a universal experience rendered in specific detail. Like it's predecessors Attachment Styles and the Gender Studies EP, Something Soft was recorded by Jamie Hyland. It is the most technically nimble of M(h)aol's recordings to date, with the band-joined by Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra's Sarah Deegan on bass-decamping to Dublin's Ailfionn Studio whe