Choke

Portland, Oregon’s SOFT KILL began in 2010 by releasing one of the most highly regarded post punk albums of the last ten years “An Open Door”. Their fourth album “Choke” is scheduled for release on Nov 4th via Profound Lore Records. Founding member Tobias Sinclair (ex-Blessure Grave) joins Conrad Vollmer (Warm Hands) on guitar, drummer Maximillion Avalon (Chromatics, Antioch Arrow, Get Hustle, Atriarch) and Owen Glendower on synths. The eight song suite “Choke” comes on the heels of 2015’s sophomore effort “Heresy” which was seen as a much more claustrophobic and oppressive album than “An Open Door”. “Choke” by contrast, incorporates a greater depth of songwriting, texture and melody. Soft Kill has discovered a depth of invention and creativity with “Choke”, vast and engaging in scope leaving the listener with an enduring and melancholic bliss. Warm, confident with lush guitars, “Choke” teems with melodic songs, generating urgency and vitality, elevating all that is potent in post punk, building impressively on their previous output. “Choke” is the culmination of years spent perfecting a unique sound, crafted and haunting songwriting that places Soft Kill firmly in the canon of the genre. Rooted in influences such as the Chameleons, Wire and The Sound the album branches out, pulling delicately from the foundational elements of Cocteau Twins and Spaceman 3. “Choke” places the listener deeply under water and leaves them gasping for breath, placing them above hope with tracks like ‘On The Inside’ which features the vocals of legendary Mark Burgess of Chameleons. The song draws from the first wave of post punk and slips seamlessly into the cascading and ethereal elements of early shoegaze. The opening track ‘Whirl’ bleeds together the pop sentimentality of New Order with the dazzling Sheffield sound of Pulp. Lyrically “Choke” speaks on topics of loss and longing, and the choices we are all asked to make. Soft Kill will be touring extensively in support in the upcoming year.

After taking a four-year hiatus to resolve personal struggles with addiction and health, Soft Kill's third LP, Choke, doesn't stray far from...