Soft Riot – When Push Comes To Shove (Album – Possession Records)
Genre/Influences: EBM, experimental.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: Jack Duckworth (JJD) is born in Canada, but has been residing in Glasgow (Scotland) for a few years. He set up his own label, Possession Records, and now unleashed the seventh album of his project.
Content: I honestly haven’t been that much impressed with the previous works of this artist. This new work has been announced as an evolution in production and sound. I indeed discovered a somewhat different creating a gap with the previous electro-pop inspired work. This opus is driven by minimalism and a rather experimental format of EBM. The retro touch of Soft Riot is still recognizable and reminds me now and then to The Human League, but I especially noticed a kind of experimental EBM approach. The experimental touch is created by a sort of sound chaos, Soft Riot avoids to elaborate explicit melody lines.
+ + + : There clearly is an evolution in sound, which I’ve to admit is not easy to seize. The songs are driven by a kind of sonic chaos where JJD reveals himself as a kind of imaginary sound scientist. This music could have been composed in a sonic laboratory instead of a studio. So it’s not that of coincidence one of my favorite cuts is the more cohesive “By The Skin Of Your Teeth”, which evokes to me the legendary “Brothers”-hit from DAF. Another noticeable song is “Your Work Is Never Done”, which also has something ‘classical’-like.
– – – : I’m still not a huge fan of Jack Duckworth’s vocal skills, being too monotonous. The songs are also missing a bit of cohesion remaining pretty experimental-like.
Conclusion: Soft Riot’s has experimented with new ideas and even if the entire album is not convincing, this is already the best I’ve heard from this artist.
Best songs: “By The Skin Of Your Teeth”, “You Work Is Never Done”.
Rate: (6½).
Artist: www.softriot.com / www.facebook.com/softriot
Label: www.possessionrecords.com / www.facebook.com/possessionrecords
About Soft Riot
Soft Riot is the electro-pop/EBM project of Canadian-born, Glasgow-based musician Jack Duckworth (JJD), who also runs the Possession Records label. Duckworth’s fourth album, “You Never Know What Might Come Next”, appeared on Exhibition Records in 2016, followed by the sixth, “The Outsider In The Mirrors”, on Possession Records in 2018. “When Push Comes To Shove”, reviewed here, is Soft Riot’s seventh album.
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