If I Never Know You Like This Again

北アイルランド発の早熟な天才SSW
ソーク待望のサード・アルバム発売決定!!


デビュー作『Before We Forgot How to Dream』がマーキュリーにノミネートされ、天性のメロディーと耳から離れない歌声で人気を博す北アイルランド発の早熟な天才ソークことブライディ・モンズ・ワトソンが待望の最新作をリリース!
パンデミック中に制作がスタートした本作は盟友トミー・マクラフリンと共に、ブロークン・ソーシャル・シーンやペイヴメント、そしてレディオヘッドの名作『The Bends』から得たインスピレーションをもとに、地元北アイルランドのAttica Studiosでレコーディングを敢行。
「歌の記憶たち」をテーマに掲げ、破壊力抜群なノスタルジックなパワー・ポップ「last july」を筆頭に、自分の過去と向き合い「自分らしさ」を追求する旅路が描かれた全10曲を収録。

After releasing their second Ireland-charting album, Grim Town, in 2019, SOAKs Bridie Monds-Watson let it be known publicly that they were non-binary. This realization -- and accompanying relief -- not only informs the looser musical demeanor of their third album but also its subject matter, which finds the songwriter revisiting formative life experiences through a sharper lens. Recorded with longtime collaborator Tommy McLaughlin, If I Never Know You Like This Again notably trades SOAKs early career minimalism for a mid-90s-inspired sound replete with electric guitars and effects pedals. Its the projects first album with a full band. The approach is introduced on first track "purgatory" when the voice-and-guitar intro breaks open into a jaunty rock arrangement. Lyrically, the song grapples with identity and the notion of a life well-lived, with lines like "Did I ever find out if my name was correct/Or did I just get used to it?" and "I used to wish I was someone else/But I could never fully commit/So I guess its just me and me/And the world in between." Monds-Watson continues to gain perspective across indie rockers like the gritty, siren-fortified "last july" and hazier "red-eye," though the bulk of the album resides in a bittersweet, midtempo region while remaining amplified. Among those tracks, "baby, youre full of shit," relies on harmonics and delay for its jazzier texture while lyrics take a hypocrite to task. Elsewhere, "bleach" highlights the persistent brittle qualities of the singers idiosyncratic vocal delivery at volumes both low and high, while the mostly stripped-down closer, "swear jar," incorporates a choir that helps amplify the question: "Where have I been all my life?" While frequently poignant, If I Never Know You Like This Again feels like a post-catharsis moment of hanging out, talking into the late hours, and making music with friends. ~ Marcy Donelson