Soft Science: “Maps” – Test Pattern Records 1 June 2018

Scritto da Exhimusic - Percorsi nella musica 20/05/2018

California’s Soft Science resonates dreamy positivity on new ‘Maps’ album

Dream-gaze syndicate Soft Science have announced their new ‘Maps’ album, slated for release on June 1 via Test Pattern Records. These 10 tracks establish the band among California’s leading dream pop artists.

This follows up their double A-side singles ‘Sooner/ Paris’ (including a wistful-blue cover of Northern Picture Library’s (NPL) ‘Paris’ as the B-side) and ‘Undone / I Don’t Know Why I Love You’, which saw the band flirt with sounds closer to My Bloody Valentine and The Primitives.

“The lyrics on ‘Maps’ are reflective of the process of time passing, relationships breaking apart, and coming together. Overall, there is an element of the idea of appreciating the time we have with the ones we love. The lyrics on ‘Maps’ are, at times, a stream of consciousness of everyday life and, at times, are more abstract but always with an undercurrent of processing life,” says Katie Haley.

Hailing from the Sacramento Valley, Soft Science fuses melody, sound and texture of 60s pop and 90s shoegaze like molecular gastronomists blend physics and chemistry to transform food. Together this 5-piece band have managed to create their own sweet blend of modern pop music with a sonic edge.

The band’s members are influenced by such bands ranging from the Zombies and Beach Boys to Lush, Teenage Fanclub, Ride, Pale Saints, New Order, and Jesus and Mary Chain, along with newer artists such as Beach House and Frankie Rose.

Soft Science rose from the ashes of indie pop band California Oranges prior to releasing their last album in 2008. Soft Science was a natural transition for Katie Haley (Holiday Flyer) and twin brothers Ross and Matt Levine, who had essentially contributed to each other’s music projects on an off for over a decade. With Katie Haley on vocals, Matt Levine on guitar, and Ross Levine on drums and back vocals, Soft Science were soon joined by bass player Mason DeMusey to create unique dream pop music, inspired by 90s shoegaze and 60s brit pop. The band then solidified their sound with the addition of Tony Cale (English Singles) on drums and Ross moving to keyboards.

In 2011, Soft Science debuted with their ‘High and Lows’ LP, with Pop Matters noting the band’s “potential to become one of the great Left Coast power pop bands.” In 2013, the band released the ‘Detour’ LP, which received notable critical reviews and was ranked #2 among Jack Rabid’s Top 40 in issue 74 of The Big Takeover Magazine.

Soft Science has played live with the likes of The Chills, Literature and Dead Leaf Echo, and has released a split 7” with The Luxembourg Signal, featuring Soft Science’s well-received track ‘Breaking’.

For this album, Soft Science received a helping hand from longtime friend and engineer Eric Stenmen (AWOLNATION, Tokyo Police Club) with mastering at Malibu’s Black Bear 11 Studio and mixing of ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ at Redbull Studios in Los Angeles.

The ‘Maps’ album will appear on online stores and streaming platforms on June 1, but is already available for pre-order via the label’s own Bandcamp, where the band’s previous two singles are already available.

TRACK LIST
1. Undone
2. Breaking
3. Diverging
4. There
5. Apart
6. Sooner
7. Know
8. Still
9. Enough
10. Slip

CREDITS
All songs written by Soft Science: Ross Levine, Katie Haley, Matt Levine, Tony Cale, and Mason DeMusey
Recorded at Prairie Sun in Cotati, California
Engineed by Matt Wright
Additional engineering and mixing by Tony Cale
Produced by Ross Levine and Tony Cale
Electronic sounds, ambience and textures by Hans Munz (Angelzero, IIIformants) analog synth / electronic overdubs
Mastered by Eric Stenman at Black Bear 11 – Malibu, CA

All photos by Chantel Elder

FOR SHARING
‘Maps’ LP https://testpatternrecords.bandcamp.com/album/maps
Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/shameless-promotion/sets/soft-science

‘Undone / I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ https://testpatternrecords.bandcamp.com/album/undone-i-dont-know-why-i-love-you

‘Sooner / Paris’ https://testpatternrecords.bandcamp.com/album/sooner-paris
‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ https://youtu.be/FFXFxPAkBHM

Keep up with Soft Science / Test Pattern Records

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