photo by Magali Charron
Soft Black is an NYC collective surrounding the voice and artistic imaginings of Vincent Cacchione (Caged Animals) who was deeply entrenched in Brooklyn's DIY warehouse scene / the East Village's anti-folk scene for a potent 4 year period that eventually spawned 2009's "The Earth Is Black" album. Rolling Stone described the Cacchione / Soft Black asthetic as a “bizarro world Neil Young living in an Edward Gorey cartoon" which feels like a Modest Mouse-ian description to me.
Soft Black return after a 10 year hiatus, absence, disappearance with the highly anticipated: "The Witching Hour". Produced live in the studio by the band and Daniel Schlett, The Witching Hour boasts playing from members of DIIV, Beach Fossils, Air Waves, Friends, and Lost Boy?
The track, Heaven, is one of the first peeks at the resurrection and Cacchione shares:
"Heaven was inspired by a series of dreams I had about my father just after his passing and we recorded the whole track live in just one take."
I absolutely love this track and the "one take" thing it quite brilliant and makes it even more special as a pure inspired burst of emotional cathartic rock. The bottom heavy bass / drum jag and the hyper-active pounding keys that feel Farfisa-esque create a lovely tension. When the bass starts dancing and Cacchione's scorched vocal aesthetic simmers and burns, the guitar upswings and seemingly tangles notes and untangles them as the songs narrative broods and then erupts, then fights, then dances.
The sheer weight of Cacchione's passion supported by stirring organs, those shady guitar lines, bombastic drums and snaking bass is absolutely exhilarating and well worth the wait.
"The Witching Hour" drops September 25th, 2020.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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https://softblack.bandcamp.com/
Soft Black is a collective of NYC musicians led by the voice and songs of Vincent Cacchione, who has also recorded as Caged Animals
Described by Rolling Stone as a “bizarro world Neil Young living in an Edward Gorey cartoon,” Soft Black specialize in a dark but tender take on indie-rock.
During their first five year run, Soft Black were key figures in Brooklyn’s DIY warehouse scene, as well as, the East Village’s anti-folk scene. 2009’s “The Earth Is Black” became a memorable, albeit, cult staple of NYC’s thriving independent music scene.
After a ten-year absence, Soft Black are back with their most cohesive work: The Witching Hour. Produced live in the studio by the band and Daniel Schlett, The Witching Hour boasts playing from members of DIIV, Beach Fossils, Air Waves, Friends, and Lost Boy?
What you're about to hear is raw. Ghostly crackles and stoned breaths litter it’s 43 minute journey into the darker corners of psychedelic rock. The songs are lyrically gritty and the music is both vulnerable and heavy, blending elements of shoe-gaze, kraut, and folk-rock into something distinct.
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