The Cincinnati based Dreampop band Soften, consists of vocalist/guitarist Brianna Kelly, Jon Delvaux (bass), Corey Waddell (guitar) and Andrew Aragon on drums. The band have a short album called “Soften Forever” out pretty soon. The album can be read as a statement of “commitment to one another after seeing themselves through a year of bad breaks, break ups and turmoil”. Recorded in a Westside chapel with the assistance of Justin Golden (Over The Rhine, Kim Taylor), the new Soften album will be a promising follow up to their 2017 release “Seen + Unseen” which landed Soften a “Best New Artist” nomination at the Cincinnati Entertainment Award.
The single “Iridescent” will be released on June the 14th, and upon hearing their forthcoming EP, I am a little surprised that they chose this as the single, as it’s a pretty sober, introspective indie ballad. “Irisdescent” has interesting twists; lush harmonies; an unexpected, gorgeous psychey bridge at the end, and sounds, overall, like a more shoegazey Wilsen adorned with the dramatic/characteristic vocals of singer Brianna Kelly, that remind me of those of Caroline Polachek (Chairlift). I personally would have chosen the more upbeat, eventful “Undo” as a single for the EP, but “Iridescent” is an undeniable thing of beauty and certainly no flimsy, formulaic indie stuff.
