It’s one of those rare records that jump out at you immediately, albeit in a subtle and gentle way. Imagine being in the record shop with music playing in the background. Normally you would take no notice and carry on browsing, but not this time. This fragile female voice emanating vulnerability and sorrow. This wonderful music rich in range and warmth. Who is it? The employee in the shop in Baden’s old town says, “Soft Loft, a band from Aargau”.
Hard to believe. The band sounds as if it were from Tucson, Arizona, or New York, maybe even somewhere in Ireland – but not Brugg. Nonetheless, that’s where singer Jorina Stamm founded the band seven years ago with her school friend Sarina Schmid. The formation was initially called Ellas. Three musicians then came on board: Lukas Kuprecht on drums, Simon Boss on the guitar and Marius Meier on bass. Their debut album is called “The Party And The Mess”.
There is something magical about the unvarnished beauty of their first album. The intimate songs sound melancholy with an infectious levity at the same time. They move between indie pop, folk and singer/songwriter. And the general mournfulness fails to mask the consistent optimistic undercurrent. One song, “Joni” is about Jorina Stamm’s role model Joni Mitchell, which pretty much says it all.
The lyrics recount a longing for understanding and benevolence. They are touching and unrelentingly honest. They deal with depressive episodes, pain and separation. The album gives room to feelings, for example in the songs “Open House” and “Safe Space”, and thus overcomes any negativity.
Crystal-clear guitar and warm synthesisers carry the sound produced by Gianluca Buccellati from the US. He had worked with Lana Del Rey previously and was nominated for a Grammy. Together, the band and their producer wrote song sketches, and in February 2022 Buccellati flew to Switzerland for a recording session. Soft Loft spent two weeks with their mentor in a house in Engelberg working on their music and distilling 30 ideas into the 12 songs on the album.
After Switzerland, the next step is to gain a following outside the country. And they may well achieve that. Soft Loft have a lot of potential and the new album is a bona fide gem. Watch this space: soon, “The Party And The Mess” will have spread from Baden old town to the record shops in the big cities.
Comments