ALBUM REVIEW: Soft – Bones UK
If you’re down about summer coming to a close and needing some excitement in your life, then look no further than Soft, the latest album from the Grammy-nominated rock duo BONES UK. It’s been five years since their debut album and it’s one hell of a welcome return for the duo of Rosie Bones and Carmen Vandenberg. Soft is one of the best albums this year; as soon as it’s over, you’ll be eager to play it all over again.
Opener Bikinis takes you on a wild ride as soon as it starts. It’s as seductive as it is charismatic, and an incredibly strong start to an incredibly strong album. From the get go, a sumptuous drum beat goes hand in hand with an effortlessly cool sounding combo of bass and guitar, it will have you strutting along to it in no time. Bones’ vocals are subtle yet you find yourself hanging onto them throughout, and it’s a song that would easily fit into a soundtrack of noir or murder mystery. Next track Me packs as big of a punch as its predecessor; a grungy roughness around the edges helps drive this track to its destination, working in tandem with an almost hip-hop sounding drum beat and an earworm of a chorus to boot. Step slows things down a little with the track Dopamine, but brings in a trippy aesthetic through the use of synths and equally trippy guitars.
Won’t Settle brings a swift return to the grunge style of play to the album. You’d be forgiven for thinking it sounds like a QUEENS OF A STONE AGE song as it features a guest appearance from bassist Mike Shuman whose signature sound gives this song a great touch. Knee Deep is another track that takes proceedings a little slower, but what we get is another great atmospheric track that allows the duo to really show off their musical talent as they bombard you with a cacophony of sound which needs to be played as loud as possible. Perfectly Imperfect is a great companion to Knee Deep as it stays in keeping with that atmospheric vibe and gives you a slight uneasy feeling. Once again, you can easily imagine these songs featuring on some sort of dark thriller.
Us proves to be one of the best songs on the record but is also the most heartbreaking, detailing the moment between two people that realise that they’ve gone as far as they can with each other in a relationship and that it has to come to an end for the betterment of each other. It’s simple yet effective and massively relatable to people listening. Ramping up the pace once more is Fix, which unashamedly shows off the QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE influence as it could easily fit on any of their albums, the wailing guitar and dirty sounding riffs are effortlessly cool and feel made for sweaty crowds to dance about to.
Towards the end of the album Teeth is short and sweet banger that features a great bounce to its beat, you won’t be able to keep still whilst listening to it as the synths take you on a sci-fi sounding journey. The five-minute penultimate track Blood feels like it’s taking you through all the songs that came before it. It has the calmer moments and also the wilder and rockier moments that feature throughout the album and is a triumphant track before What If I Die brings Soft to a rather dour close without detracting from any of the quality the album has on show.
Soft is an absolute triumph of an album. It’s a pure rock album through and through that never once feels boring or like it’s outstayed its welcome. Each song has a certain panache to it that just makes it feel cool. It’s definitely one of those albums made for listening to on long open roads or in dark rooms drinking strong spirits. The thought of seeing it live makes it even better as you imagine the many many riffs that are on display rattling your bones as they blare out. Make sure this isn’t an album you miss out on, and make sure you play it loud.
Rating: 9/10
Soft is set for release on September 13th via Sumerian Records.
Like BONES UK on Facebook.