Soft Bonds (studio album) by Insides

From Mercury 01/20/2021 21:05

80 to 85/100 (Achingly beautiful, engagingly atmospheric ambient/dream pop album that gets more and more rich and comfortable as the album progresses.)

Minimalist rhythms, whispered vocals, austere synth melodies all ever so slowly blossom as you listen to this quite fascinating dreamy ambient pop album. Probably the fact that this album is so consistently understated and reticent is what makes even the smallest sonic touches hit substantially harder than you'd expect. For example in "Subordinate" there are these sharp piano chords that come in, and due to the fact that you've just floated away into dreamland with the stellar previous track (The Softest Bond Resists Resistance) these chords sound almost indulgent. Then 2 minutes into "Subordinate" the swell of the music just has you 100% on board with the ride. This is just my experience, obviously. But I can't praise the slow build up of this album enough. The opener is so sooooo minimal and as I heard it I was thinking that with a sound so stripped down I only hope this is a set up for the end of the song or the rest of the album. And I am happy to say that yes that is indeed how this album went. By the end of the album the songs are so gorgeous and I was so invested in the atmosphere and music it was heavenly.

Personally when I see "Ambient Pop" or "Dream Pop" used to describe an album I instantly start imagining, well, pop. And pop (despite being a ridiculously broad term with no specific emotion generally connected with it) makes me think of sunshine and dancing and happiness and beauty. Well, so it was with this album. I thought maybe I'd get sunnier vibes than what I got. Instead the songs here are dark, intimate, introspective and troubled. The first indication I got of where this album was on track 3, "Misericord" in which the singer Kirsty Yates details ill-intentions and threats toward some unlucky someone. The way the words are delivered is so calm it makes the words all the more impactful. Throughout the album there are dark words read with mesmerizing whispery tones that just keeps this album vocals-wise always engaging.

The songs which stick out as the best on this album (which should be listened to in full as an album cuz the whole thing is knitted so gorgeously together) are "ghost Music", "The Softest Bonds Resist Resistance", "Subordinate", "Thin Skin" and the near-perfect 1-2 punch of the closing tracks "Half Past 4" and "Undressing".

I had no previous experience with Insides/Earwig before. Apparently this is the first album the duo of Kirsty Yates and Julien Tardo have released an album in over 20 years. Their 1993 debut "Euphoria" seems to be quite highly regarded and with my pleasant experience with this album I am very much looking forward to listening to that album.

I really liked and borderline loved this album.