Like sailing through an indigo sky, surrounded by deep darkness that you have the power to penetrate, SoftSpot‘s sophomore record ‘MASS’ and its lead single ‘You / Yours’ (out April 8th) is full of the dramatic intensity. Architecturally transient, it swoops acrobatically through seductive guitar work and sometimes sinister drums, in a sort of dreamy but certainly never sleepy fashion, the instruments cavorting with Kinlaw’s sometimes Bjork-esque vocals. Two minutes into ‘You / Yours’ there’s a blistering culmination of all its assets, swooping grandly together to a drum dalliance before filtering down into gentle tings. Glorious. Other album highlights include the punctuated chimes of ‘Black Room Blues,’ the dual layered vocals on ‘Gathering,’ (an initially slow moving song that builds and blisters with its looping lyrics) and the garage rush of ‘Pick Up Lines,’ its ominous delicately picked bass line and Keller’s vocals adding a tense dark counterpoint to proceedings. The Bushwick trio, joined by recently permenent member Blaze Bateh play the Shea Stadium on Feb 28th and Piano’s on March 11th. – Francesca Baker
