Soft Play have spoken to NME about being on course for their highest-charting album yet – with ‘Heavy Jelly’ currently in the top three of the midweeks alongside the likes of Eminem and Glass Animals.
UK punk duo Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman released ‘Heavy Jelly’, their first record since changing their name from Slaves to Soft Play, last Friday (July 19).
“It would have been a lot easier to stay as Slaves through fear of all of the potential consequences that were running through our heads – losing our fan base, losing our direction, everything we’d built up – that it was actually a really tough thing to do, but we persevered through it, and it’s paid off,” they told NME. “We’ve set an example for people coming after us that it’s never too late to change course.”
As Soft Play, the duo’s popularity only grown. Their latest album, which they described as “a sort of manifesto of the band”, currently sits in the top three three on the midweek album charts, jostling with Glass Animals‘ ‘I Love You So F***ing Much‘ and Eminem‘s ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace)‘.
“It’s almost like the universe is rewarding us for doing something that was challenging,” they said.
Check out our full interview with the duo below, where Soft Play talk about Eminem’s influence on the album, performing with Robbie Williams, what to expect from their upcoming tour, and more.
NME: Hello Laurie and Issac. You’re set for your highest-ever charting album this week. How does that feel?
Soft Play: “It feels amazing; quite unexpected. We thought that physical sales, or any sales, were dropping off. But the fact that we’ve done more than in the past is quite surreal.”
How does it feel like to be within touching distance of someone like Eminem in the charts?
“It feels insane. It’s mental that we could be the runner-up to him, or give him a run for his money.”
What sort of influence has Eminem had on you?”
“Massive. The humour he displays in his music has a massive influence on even this record – the sort of tongue-in-cheek, funny songs like ‘The Real Slim Shady’, ‘Purple Pills’ or ‘My Band’. We were obsessed with him at a young age, so it’s a huge influence.”
Soft Play live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
You are also up there Glass Animals’ new album in the charts, even though they made ‘Heat Waves’ – one of the most recognisable and biggest-selling songs of recent years. How does that feel?
“It’s sort of double-sided. We feel for them as fellow humans and musicians because the online vitriol they’re getting is f***ing crap. No one deserves that. For us, though, we were told by our label that Glass Animals are releasing their record, and we thought we had no chance of being above them, so it’s obviously amazing, but we don’t make music to win things; we just want to be creative.”
Going back to your decision to change your name, some people weren’t too keen – and you took them head on with ‘Punk’s Dead’. Why did you think it was important to do so?
“You know what, we don’t even think we thought it was important to do so. It was just like a creative moment where we were going through our comments and a song just started forming itself. It was like: ‘These comments are too good to not be lyrics,’ and from there, we thought this was a good way to deal with this. But we hadn’t set out to do that originally.”
And there’s a bit of Eminem in that, too?
“Yeah, it’s like 8 Mile‘s final rap battle scene.”
When you changed the band’s name, was there any uncertainty and fear of losing everything you’d built up? How does it feel to be getting so much love now as Soft Play?
“It’s almost like the universe is rewarding us for actually doing something that was challenging. It would have been a lot easier to stay as Slaves through fear of all of the potential consequences that were running through our heads – losing our fan base, losing our direction, everything we’d built up – that it was actually a really tough thing to do, but we persevered through it, and it’s paid off. It feels like, ultimately, we’ve set an example for people coming after us that it’s never too late to change course.”
Earlier this month, you got to perform with Robbie Williams at BST Hyde Park. What was the experience of that like?
“It was almost like coming face to face with a cartoon character you’ve looked at throughout your youth. It definitely didn’t disappoint.”
Tell us about the other artists that have been shaping you and your music…
“There are so many. As time has gone on we’ve re-embraced some of our childhood influences like Limp Bizkit and the nu-metal bands like System of a Down. We’re both massive fans of The Popes and The Waterboys as well, and a lot of the hip-hop stuff, too.
“There’s a lot of rap-influenced stuff on this record, too. It’s just endless; we’re such big fans of music, but in recent times, it’s been about reconnecting with our youth and re-engaging with wanting to make really heavy music. ”
You’re set to go on tour soon. What can we expect from the shows?
“We’re in the middle of an in-store tour, and they’ve just been incredible. We’ve never had more audience participation; you can hear them singing every single song. It’s beyond our imagination what’s going on at the moment, and I think our big tour is going to be even better.”
Soft Play live at Glastonbury 2024. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
What are your long-term plans, if any? Or are you just enjoying everything one day at a time?
“We’re just taking it as it comes. We’ll get cracking with another record at some point. We’re feeling very creative and very inspired at the moment. We’re just going to enjoy it.”
What do you want and hope for the long-lasting legacy of ‘Heavy Jelly’?
“We just really hope – which I already think it is doing – that it ferments in people’s minds what this band is. The complete polarity of hilarious absurdity mixed with really poignant heartfelt moments on this record is a pure authenticity of who we are as people, and we see this album as a sort of manifesto of the band and that people finally can have an insight into what we are really about.”
‘Heavy Jelly’ by Soft Play is out now. The band released three albums under their previous name – 2015’s ‘Are You Satisfied?’, 2016’s Take Control’, and 2018’s ‘Acts of Fear and Love’.
Soft Play perform at Yungblud’s BludFest in Milton Keynes on Saturday August 11, before a UK headline tour kicks off in October. Visit here for tickets and more information.
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