The fourth studio album by Soft Play (Aka Slaves) is a career-high that holds a sense of love and appreciation for the bond at the front and centre of the band.
The album is the band’s first back as a duo since releasing side projects, baby dave and larry pink the human. recorded over a year between the Tunbridge wells forum, Laurie’s garden studio, on tour, and finished at the libertine’s studio, the songs on ‘Heavy Jelly’ paint specific snapshots of the world around the band and amps up their sound and presence to something bolder and brighter than ever.
“For a good few years, it looked shaky as to whether U.K. duo Soft Play’s Isaac Holman and Laurie Vincent would ever be able to find their way forward to this moment. To say a lot has happened in the intervening years is an understatement: their friendship faltered, their creativity halted, they were rocked by grief and mental health issues, and when they did emerge, it was with side projects: Laurie’s Larry Pink The Human and Isaac’s Baby Dave. Step by step, however — via time, conversation, therapy and a positive new band identity — they got back on track. The result is “Heavy Jelly”, a product of the pair’s new sense of love and appreciation for their singular bond, which is both held front and centre and the defining inspiration behind what is clearly a new career high. Named after a Jiu-Jitsu instructor who told Laurie to act like ‘Heavy Jelly’ by means of explaining how much resistance to give in a demonstration, the turn of phrase also mirrors the duo’s worldview, “life is heavy, but it’s also funny.”
“Heavy Jelly” is out July 19th.
The Fat Angel Sings 