LA-based London natives Bones UK are releasing their sophomore studio album Soft via Sumerian Records. Nearly five years in the making and recorded across London, LA, Chicago, and Texas, Soft follows Bones UK’s debut self-titled album from 2019. Featuring contributions from Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins and Mike Shuman from Queens of the Stone Age, Soft conveys an overall heightened intensity, maturity, and vulnerability within the musicality of Bones UK.
Renowned for their Industrial Rock meets nineties electronic sound, Grammy-nominated duo Bones UK combines their hard-hitting compositions with non-conformist lyrics to deliver an artistry that is equal parts inspiring and razor-sharp. Their first record conveyed themes of toxic masculinity and rebellion against conventional beauty standards, and Soft continues to bring the passion towards similar themes to a new level.
Tracks such as “Me” and “Perfectly Imperfect” express self-love through a feminist and non-conformist lens. Through the eyes of Bones UK, which is composed of vocalist/guitarist Rosie Bones and guitarist Carmen Vandenburg, self-love is an act of rebellion and their entire record flawlessly conveys the message of loving yourself unapologetically despite your flaws – all the way down to your bones.
Soft is essentially a story of raw and primal love with a heavy emphasis on individuality. “Won’t Settle,” which features punchy guitars from Queens of the Stone Age’s Mike Shuman, delivers an eighties new wave-esque chorus and an urge for women not to settle down just because society tells them to.
But there also lies a darker underbelly to this theme of love. Through sensual and sultry tracks like “Bikinis” (the album’s first single), “Dopamine,” and “Teeth,” a primal urge and over-consuming desire for another is openly expressed. Bones UK voices that self-love is an act of rebellion, and love for somebody – or something – else is one of the most intoxicating sensations in existence.
Along with a further emphasis on recurring themes within the band’s work, an expansion upon their previous sound is also explored. While Bones UK is known for its wide array of influences – everything from classic rock to nineties techno – Soft sees the outfit pushing the boundaries of the sound they’ve become known for. While staying true to their Hard Rock roots, the group also plays with eighties new wave, singer-songwriter, and heavy blues rock in such a way that fuses into their preexisting sound seamlessly.
While the album itself is named Soft, listeners making their journey through the album might think the title is merely an ironic quip. Through their heavy rock sound, one may wonder where the softness may be rooted. However, two ballads off the album – “Knee Deep” and “What If I Died” prove to be the most vulnerable tracks on the record and therefore two of the album’s biggest standouts. The former expresses that, although the narrator feels emotions – particularly love – in such an intense form, they confess that they wish they didn’t have to experience life in such painful depth.
Furthermore, the album’s closing song “What If I Died” puts the passionate, vulnerable nail into the album’s lyrical coffin. While the song voices adamantly that, although the speaker loves themselves and others so deeply, their biggest fear is that nothing would change if one day they were gone.
For those who face life head-on, in a way where they constantly push for non-conformity and advocacy for themselves, this comes with intense passion and therefore beautiful results around them. However, every advocate has the fear deep down that their efforts are all for naught, and this is the softness to be found within any sharp persona.
This multi-layered theme and passionate confession may only be found through an equally vigorous listen, establishing Bones UK’s latest musical effort as nothing short of a masterpiece.
Buy the album here:
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9 / 10
JUSTICE PETERSEN
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