But there’s no bad blood 'cause Soft Launch look too good on the Rough Trade stage. LeftLion's Talia Robinson headed to the record store's legendary upstairs stage to find out why the new kids on the block are so hotly anticipated by critics...
October really is throwing all kinds of unpredictable weather at us – tonight is full pelt storms, winds and a whole load of rain – yet one thing that is guaranteed is a crackin’ gig at a crackin’ venue. Having caught wind of the Irish a few months ago supporting none other than top indie lad Declan McKenna, I just knew I’d have to see them again. Soon.
Lavishly warming us up is Lizzie Esau, perhaps one of the most powerful voices emerging in the contemporary music scene. It’s truly criminal that I’ve only seen her so far limited to a supporting slot, but those odds are less ‘bleak’ and more ‘sublime’ once you’ve witnessed her live.
As the set finds its rhythm and with the stage charm of a veteran, she requests that we “Come forward! I’m friendly!” to further induce ourselves within her diaristic rhythms.
Driving guitars swan dive us from She's So Scorpio into the gorgeously gritty textures of Lazy Brain, and whilst each track flits from theme to theme, it’s the overarching reassurance that she knows what she’s doing.
I've been lucky enough to see Lizzie on tour with the likes of modernlove. and South Arcade, and this latest venture proves she’s got enough of an angsty crunch to her sound to rival that of our headliner.
Speaking of, it’s not long before the art-pop quintet known as Soft Launch takes to the stage – under the guise of Skyfall reverberating around the speakers, no less. Class. With that orchestral swell do they arm themselves with their instruments, thanking the sold-out crowd with a cheeky poise in their nods and smiles. The sunshine-filled single Cartwheels launches us into a non-stop tour on just how and why they’re becoming one of the fastest rising bands amongst our generation.
Each song takes on a new life. Easier seizes the stage in its discordant harmonies and seems to seize us with sheer stupor, not a single phone in sight; Jitterbug is a jaggered junction of soft syncopation into a heavier nuance, and it’s here the lighting rig is used to a subtle effect. Illuminating the audience in a hazed way that only the glut for up-and-coming talent can reflect, their name soon to be on everyone’s tongue is a feeling almost tangible in this room.
This echo chamber that is the upstairs, demure alcove of the Rough Trade institution brings with it an indescribable feeling that Soft Launch are our own little secret. I Wouldn’t Get Your Hopes Up brings with it a blunt truth: they’re soon to be the world’s.
Soft Launch’s music, at its core, aims to make people feel something
Soft Launch’s music, at its core, aims to make people feel something. That’s evident with the impressionable gaze of the crowd – and I assure you, this is the exact cathartic noise that deserves to impress upon your ears and your playlists – and their resplendent responses to jump and jive.
Despite being relatively new to the scene, they evoke an infectious nostalgia that usually takes years to gather (and a fervent fanbase to hoot!) in tracks such as In My Bed. It’s not the first time the band members have swapped instruments. Interweaving themselves within the melodies and vocal duties, there’s a certain grandeur to having multiple multi-instrumentalists in the one band; it’s the effortless nature with which they swiftly rotate, right there in front of you, that makes the whole concept rather meta.
Forget soft launch, they’re hard launching.
Perhaps Milkshakes was the moment I realised: I don’t think I’ll ever get the opportunity to see such genuine, slightly naive, yet completely intentional music in such an intimate venue. You hardly need to jump to feel the floorboards propelling you into the air, coercing you to join this tongue-in-cheek Irish boyband domination. They’re a band that defies characterisation, yet Soft Launch are characterising what it means to make music in the new age. You might as well join them on this ride.
Soft Launch performed at Rough Trade Nottingham on 11th October 2024, with support from Lizzie Esau.
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