Sunday, June 26, 2011

Soft Metals Mesmerize


Patricia Hall and her boyfriend Ian Hicks have been enchanting one another with song since the spring of 2009. Their first meeting was an audition. Ian was looking for a voice to compliment his moody, cinematic synthesizer sketches and Patricia hoped to meet the right partner to help put her day dreamy poems to music. Their mutual love of early 80s synth pop, the nascent incarnations of house and techno, ebm, krautrock, post punk, and the first wave of industrial music set the course. After a few sessions together the partnership proved to be exactly what they had both been searching for and Soft Metals was born.

This summer marks the release of their first full length, a self-titled release with Captured Tracks. A collection of bittersweet electronic pop songs balanced by a delicate surrealism, a patient sense of experimentation that leaves you floating in your subconscious and moving to the beat . The sonic landscapes are sleek, but never icy. Even at her most dreamlike, Patricia's vocals reach an eerie beauty that is always deeply emotional. 

Think early Human League meets the Cocteau Twins and you might be able to see where Soft Metals are coming from.  If the single, "Psychic Driving," is a hint of what the whole album will sound like it'll be as if Lush were resurrected w/synths instead of effects pedals.   Soft Metals are post shoegazing electro pop that picks up where Seefeel left off and continues to head out into space.  These guys in a word are awesome. 

Download: Psychic Driving

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