PREORDER: M(h)aol - Something Soft – New LP

SHIPPING MAY 31, 2025. "The sophomore record from Irish post-punk firebrands M(h)aol, Something Soft. From the first note of its propulsive opening track to the distorted cries of its last, Something Soft feels antagonistic to the concept of softness, sonically and thematically, taking an unapologetic approach to intersectional feminism, animal welfare, consumerism, and the struggle to find a place in a world lacking in empathy.

What M(h)aol offers is catharsis, in two forms: the kind you get from being open with others, and the kind you get from smashing some shit up. Following their acclaimed debut LP Attachment Styles, M(h)aol’s line-up changed, settling on the core trio of Constance Keane, Jamie Hyland, and Sean Nolan. Something Soft features a more urgent sound wound tightly around Hyland and Keane’s rhythm. On songs like “Pursuit” and “Snare,” Keane’s vocals lock in on her drums. Set against those respectively anxious and swaggering tracks, her voice occupies the space of an inner monologue narrating a tense walk home, and green room misogyny from a place of droll observance, a universal experience rendered in specific detail. Like its predecessors Attachment Styles and the Gender Studies EP, Something Soft was recorded by Jamie Hyland.  One of Something Soft’s ghosting anthems, “1800-Call-Me-Back,” began as a joke that the band should write a football chant, but it became far more complex—the delicious balance of chaos and clarity they struck would have been impossible without time. “I Miss My Dog” is less off-the-cuff, but its meditation on grief builds up at a breakneck pace, from feedback to Keane’s drumming and singing to a conclusion that smothers that grief in bass and guitar. For those who’ve come to recognize themselves in M(h)aol’s songs, listening to Something Soft is like jumping into a long-running chat thread, full of fury and humor. For those who haven’t, the door is open."