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AGENCY

by SOFT GRID

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1.
PPPY CNNN 09:35
2.
Airplane 05:59
3.
4.
5.
Agency 05:32

about

Soft Grid - Agency (ANTIME 025), out May 24th 2019.

With their sophomore album »Agency«, the Berlin-based trio Soft Grid picks up where 2016’s »Corolla« left off. »Agency« is a swirling whirlwind of kraut-inspired synth jams, powerful post-rock dynamics and, as a whole, completely unshackled of any limitations of the rock and electronic music worlds the band navigates through at once. Maintaining the energy of their celebrated live shows, the five new songs - all between five and a half and close to eleven minutes in length - further diversify their musical signature while sounding more urgent and visceral than ever. Imagine a Battles song drenched in autotune, a no-frills version Animal Collective circa »Merriweather« period or Electrelane and Warpaint meeting for a five-hour jam and you might get a rough idea of which motions a regular Soft Grid song goes through. That is, if there ever was such a thing as a regular Soft Grid song.

»Agency« proves that Soft Grid have become even more aware of their sense of, well, agency. Rich in detail and full of twists, their songwriting and sound aesthetics have been at the same time sharpened and extended. Take the opener »PPPY CNNN«, which kicks off like a Slint song, only to intensify its atmosphere with a seemingly never-ending crescendo of intermingled synth lines that only gradually give way to a groovy beat that becomes a template for experimentation with guitars and vocals - just until the next, unexpected turning point radically changes the mood once more. All of which, of course, is emphasised by the at times enigmatic lyrics sung with three distinctive voices that express similar feelings of alienation, longing or just being stuck on a fucking airplane for too long.

There are many moments on »Agency« in which Soft Grid radically alter their course from one second to the another. However, their eyes stay firmly locked on their collective goal of just-not-quite-doing-what’s-been-done-before: nothing on this record happens by accident, even though it is peppered with surprises, twists and turns. There’s the rolling grooves of »Airplane« punctuated by circular synthesizer sequences, there’s the balladesque-yet-anthemic »Mother Tongue« in which strings and the voices of all three members seem to bleed into the synthetic sounds. There’s »A Century Behind« with it’s piercing trance stabs that serve as an introduction to what might be the most soulful post-rock song on this side of »Millions Now Living« - powerful, epic, and towards the end, utterly cathartic. And there is, of course, the title track, closing the album with an anthem that sums up in only five and a half minutes what has been happening just before that.

»Agency« was recorded together with famed producer Tobias Levin, who through his work with bands like To Rococo Rot or Kante has proven that he has a knack for making even the most uncategorisable band sound just like they need to, while mixing engineer Hannes Plattmeier provided valuable advice as well. It is the last Soft Grid release to feature producer and drummer Sam Slater, who left the band after the recordings to pursue his solo career, and saw all three members contribute their trademark sounds, with founding members Theresa Stroetges and Jana Sotzko taking lead on both songwriting duties and vocals. Now joined by the seasoned jazz drummer Christian Hohenbild full-time, Stroetges and Sotzko are more than ready to take the stage again.

Artwork: Johann Steer & Maximilian Mauracher, special thanks to Nicoletta Dalfino

Live Video »PPPY CNNN«: youtu.be/0UEFdC_Q5fM
Video »A Century Behind«: youtu.be/lHYPsuFyUNc

05/24/2019 Soft Grid "Agency" Releaseshow + Handjerks
06/08/2019 Viggyazz Festival, Hersbruck
06/15/2019 E/U Fest, MS Stubnitz, Hamburg
06/29/2019 Theaterformen Festival, Hannover
07/05-06/2019 MACH Festival, Halle
07/12/2019 Landauer Sommer, Landau
08/23-24/2019 Alinae Lumr Festival, Storkow

credits

released May 24, 2019

All tracks composed and performed by Jana Sotzko, Theresa Stroetges and Sam Slater
Recorded and mixed by Tobias Levin and Hannes Plattmeier at Electric Avenue Studios, Hamburg
Mastered by Flo Siller at Soundgarden, Hamburg
Album Artwork by Johann Steer and Maximilian Mauracher, special thanks to Nicoletta Dalfino and to the Antimepeople<3

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