Album Review: SOAK - 'If I Never Know You Like This Again'

Derry musician Bridie Monds-Watson returns with the follow up to 2019’s Grim Town and SOAK’s Choice Music Prize-winning 2015 debut Before We Forgot How to Dream.

The blistering If I Never Know You Like This Again opens with a sigh: ‘purgatory’ is infused with the addictive guitar riffs of ‘90s and ‘00s indie-rock but effortlessly SOAK, with their diaristic iterations of mundane days gone by. The track explores legacy and irrelevance, asking, “When my life flashes before my eyes, will I be ready or beg for my time?”.

‘last july’ builds in intensity before a euphoric reward, with Tommy McLaughlin’s production aiding the explosive guitar noise and swirling soundscapes erupting into a glorious hurricane. The beautiful ‘bleach’ inserts an immense level of tiny, intricate details that somehow prove universal, questioning long-distance love and insecurities before a spine-tingling final crescendo: “You live in my rear window and I’m waving all the time”.

‘get well soon’ has Beach Boys in its bones while ‘pretzel’ and ‘baby, you’re full of shit’ inserts SOAK’s distinctive brand of tongue-in-cheek, down to earth humour and self-deprecation. ‘Guts’ is a kaleidoscope of endless mini confessions and raw vocals, but ‘red eye’ and the yearning ‘neptune’ are made of heavenly electric fuzz. “I knew my 20s would make or break me, but what the fuck is this?” SOAK’s deeply personal tale of identity will surely be a certified odyssey for 20-somethings.

Score: 9/10
Listen: ‘bleach’

Out now via Rough Trade Records.

Read our new interview with SOAK in the new issue of Hot Press, pre-order below!