SOAK—aka Derry, Ireland’s Bridie Monds-Watson—today released her tender solo rendition of The National’s “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” from their 2010 LP High Violet. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” is SOAK’s second cover this year, following her take on Sleater-Kinney’s “Modern Girl.” “Matt Berninger is one of my favourite lyricists,” says Monds-Watson. “There’s something so special about the imagery The National manages to create within their music and I often catch myself imagining each song as its own movie trailer.”
SOAK’s latest album Grim Town, released in April via Rough Trade Records, saw the young talent make her national TV debut on Late Night with Seth Meyers and earned her glowing reviews and coverage from Pitchfork, The Guardian (4/5 stars), BUST (5/5), NPR Music, Queery, Under the Radar (8/10 stars), The Line of Best Fit (8/10), AllMusic (4/5 stars), Exclaim!, and more. SOAK has toured the US, UK, and EU in support of Grim Town, including festival debuts at Bonnaroo and Glastonbury.
Grim Town follows the success of SOAK’s multi-prize-winning 2015 debut album Before We Forgot How To Dream, and an extraordinary period of invention and self-discovery for the still just 23-year-old artist. If Before We Forgot How To Dream was conceived as a time-capsule of innocence, vividly capturing those moments in adolescence when anything felt possible, Grim Town perhaps examines the reality of what happens next, after you enter adulthood (but actually feel more in crisis than ever), and the world around you isn’t what was promised to you or your generation.
Praise for Grim Town:
“On her second album, the Northern Irish musician graduates from lonesome singer-songwriter to bold art-pop auteur; her growing confidence translates to emotionally probing songs of startling candor”
– Pitchfork
“[SOAK] goes all in on euphoric pop” – NPR Music
“Steeped in youth and fear, restlessness and optimism, Grim Town uses a bright pop palette to unpack the cool, dark haze of being a 20-something going everywhere and nowhere, all at once” – BUST, 5/5
“Grim Town is a place where despondency, bathos and existential angst are transmogrified into beauty and joy…it carries with it the precious and generally life-affirming ability to excavate pleasure from pain”
– The Guardian, 4/5 stars
“…Monds-Watson has clearly stepped up to her bigger stage with gusto. Tales of rejection and harrowing accidents turn into heavenly earworms at SOAK’s touch…” – Under the Radar, 8/10 stars
“…the Derry-based singer songwriter exhibits increasing versatility on this accomplished sophomore release” – The Line of Best Fit, 8/10 stars
“…its floaty, atmospheric, melodic sound is nothing short of intoxicating” – them.
“With its mix of catchy and moving songs, an artful structure, and a way with words, Grim Town delivers a piece of Zeitgeist as well as a solid set of tunes” – AllMusic, 4/5 stars
“A record of great depth and variety…incredibly assured, thought-provoking
and astute” – London In Stereo, 4/5 stars
“…bigger, bolder and brighter…stunningly well-written and evocative” – Dork, 4/5 stars
“Bridie Monds-Watson’s extraordinarily versatile voice transports the listener up and down the emotional spectrum with vertiginous ease…” – PopMatters
“Masterful” – Stereoboard
“SOAK is able to explore emotion and turn it into something tangible” – Exclaim!
“SOAK is clearer and sharper than ever…this is an album to explore and get lost in” – CLASH
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