SOAK.
Die 18-jährige irische Sängerin, Gitarristin und Multi-Instrumentalistin Bridie Monds-Watson alias SOAK griff vor gerade einmal vier Jahren erstmals zur Gitarre – und gilt gegenwärtig als eine der großen neuen Hoffnungen der akustischen Musik in Großbritannien. Mit ihrer brüchigen Stimme performt sie tiefschürfende Gedichte, die sie in ein eigenwilliges Klangbett gießt. Das beweist bereits ihr Künstlername SOAK, ein Zusammenschluss aus ›Soul‹ und ›Folk‹ – und selbst diese Genre-Bezeichnungen geben ihren außergewöhnlichen Stil nur unzureichend wieder. Nach einer ersten EP veröffentlichte sie auf dem Label der befreundeten Band Chvrches ihre erste offizielle EP ›Blud‹, die in England überwältigende Kritiken erhielt.
Nun erschien ihr heiß erwartetes Debütalbum ›Before We Forgot How To Dream‹. Damit im Gepäck kommt SOAK zwischen dem 28. September und 13. Oktober auf ihrer ersten Deutschland-Tournee für fünf Konzerte in Frankfurt, Köln, Hamburg, Berlin und München zu uns.
Who is she?
SOAK, born Bridie Monds-Watson, is a 17-year-old multi-instrumentalist who has been drawing comparisons to Cat Power with oblique narratives of adolescence and gently raw vocals. Scottish band CHVRCHES have signed her up to their label, Goodbye Records, and she is currently touring with George Ezra.
How did she get here?
SOAK has been performing and recording for nearly a quarter of her life. She broke onto Derry’s music scene when she was just 14, recording demos, gigging and playing in “a s—ty band” with her friends. She seems both overwhelmed and laissez-faire about her success, with Zane Lowe and BBC 6 Music selecting Blud as a favourite track and a headline show lined up at St Pancras Old Church in April. Although SOAK plays all the instruments on Blud, she denies being a multi-instrumentalist, saying instead she “just dabbles”.Two years ago, struggling to find a good manager, SOAK enlisted her mother’s help to “look after things”. The pair also came up with her stage name: a portmanteau of ‘soul’ and ‘folk’, with SOAK’s music falling somewhere inbetween. She’s now left school and is working on her music full time.
Who are her influences?
Like many teenagers, SOAK is hungry for the new, and it’s mainly new music that influences her sound. She does, however, find inspiration in the art-rock of Foals and The 1975. She grew up listening to Joni Mitchell, who acted as her introduction to folk music and songwriting, as well as the experimental whale song of Pink Floyd’s Echoes. As for her tales of adolescence, SOAK says she feels “compelled to write every song from being in a situation”.
What does she sound like?
The washed-out, sparse guitar-lines and dragging percussion on Blud mean it could sit happily next to the records by chillwave bands Beach House and Best Coast. SOAK’s raspy, vulnerable voice takes on a folk edge on the piano-led Sea Creatures, with a poetic lyricism and teenage insight previously pioneered by other young songwriters Laura Marling and Emmy the Great.
What does she say about her own music?
“I have no idea what genre it belongs in,” she says. “It’s weird, generally, a bit of alternative, a bit folk.”