Thursday 6 August 2009

Soft Hearted Scientists - Scarecrow Smile, Home Demos: Volume 1




The artist is : Soft Hearted Scientists
The album is : Scarecrow Smile, Home Demos: Volume 1
The format is : CD and Download
It will be released on : 28th September 2009
The label is : My Kung Fu Recordings

Following 2008’s Take Time To Wonder In A Whirling World, Scarecrow Smile is the latest offering from Wales’ Soft Hearted Scientists. Featuring 16 lovingly–crafted nuggets of bedroom folk-pop and psychedelia this collection provides a recognisable yet new insight into a band termed “a new legal high, 8/10” by NME .

Soft Hearted Scientists rarely sleep untroubled. Disturbed by nightmarish audio visions of pan pipe 80s power ballads and rapidly turning tides, the lonely calls of neglected songs from the band’s first two albums should have come as something of a pleasant shock. But then the band listened to the songs…

What came back at them was a collection of creepy ditties with eerie atmospheres all of their own. As if, in all that time stored away and forgotten about, the songs had grown twisted and weird. And only now were they powerful enough to unleash their dark powers.

Take The Strangest Scene for example. Full of bright melody and shimmering sounds, it should be sweet but it’s not. It’s spooky. Elsewhere, the claustrophobic wobbling synths of Manta Ray On Main Street and the woozy, swirling organ of Return Of The Black Dahlia make for a heady collection. There are cracks in the darkness though, particularly in the classic Soft Hearted pop of Effervesce and the jolly shuffle of Man Overboard!

If you want a review copy of the album, a photo, an interview or a radio session with the band, please contact paul@plugtwo.com.

Listen to Effervesce



Soft Hearted Scientists play live:
Moseley Folk Festival, Moseley Park, Birmingham, Friday 4th September

www.softheartedscientists.com