Sand is the fifth album by Californian Paisley shoegazers Soft Science who are Katie Haley, Ross Levine, Matt Levine, Becky Cale, Tony Cale and Hans Munz. Recorded at Shattered Records and The Pool House, engineered by Jack O'Donnell, additional engineering by Ross Levine, mixed by Kev Bolus at OneEleven, mastered by Antony Ryan at RedRedPaw and produced by Soft Science.
The album opens by Spinning a web of Paisley Underground guitars and shoegaze vocals, perfect to kick back and trip out too, allowing them to catch you spinning round and round the room, luxuriating in the reverb and acid dappled drums.
Go asks all manner of questions to which direction to take, when your relationship fractures and falls to pieces, shards of shattering guitar fractals, try to prise the answers out of you, now the talking has ended, how to figure out what the next move is, within the psychedelic maelstrom they are building around their heartbreak, trying to change before it's too late.
Fade is what memories of you will do, once you've been parted long enough, they want you in their dreams for now at least, svelte twisting guitar lines, layers of synths and reverb help to keep you rooted to the spot, so they can explain why they are dreaming about you.
Without repurposes a classic 80's alternative bassline for the list of things they can do without, that doesn't include intricate guitar parts and a steady drumbeat, but all the things about you that annoy the hell out of them, will make that list, even if they never state explicitly what it is they are willing to sacrifice.
The title song Sand shifts and shimmers, slowly moving and creating this sense that perhaps life isn't as grounded as you might like, but they are prepared to give you one more chance at sharing the love you once had, forgiveness comes through a ringing guitar part.
Everything is playing on your mind, the moment it gets light she
wants to get up and get out, like she needs to do the walk of shame, even though she is in a relationship, how to find her way back to the love she thought she had, is there anyway back through the haze of guitars and unrelenting tambourine beat, will you ever be as in love with her as she is with you.
Understand just how forgiving she is prepared to be, if you will just find a way back to her arms once more, until then she will make do with the comfort of the shimmering wall of guitars easing her troubled mind.
Hope somehow they still have some left, just a chink in their armour that they will be crowned the next Downy Mildew, still get compared to Lush and Galaxie 500, while maintaining that they still have hope for the relationship that appears to be wrecked on the rocks below.
The album closes with Sway that almost sways enough to be in hock to Hipsway, but they lack the funky edge for that, they just want another chance to hold onto you and Sway together, is that too much to ask for, go on open your arms and allow her to cling on tight once more.
Find out more at https://found.ee/softscience_sand https://softscienceband.bandcamp.com/album/sand https://www.facebook.com/softsciencemusic
