– Canadian duo share new single & video
photo credit: Kaylene Widdoes
Canadian twin duo Softcult jumpstart their year with “Shortest Fuse,” a colossal fusion of swooping melodic hooks, ethereal shoegaze guitars and heavy, grunge undertones; it’s the band’s ultimate criticism of capitalist society and the chokehold it has on low-income households.
Mercedes (she/her) and Phoenix (they/them) Arn-Horn dedicate their creative forces to storytelling with a purpose; across their young but lush discography, the two tackle issues most are afraid to even comment on. As a result, they’ve built this intricate, self-sustaining universe around their art that stands for something bigger than any one of us alone.
Of the inspiration behind the new track, Softcult comment: “Capitalism seems to be designed to keep underprivileged people toiling in a never ending cycle of debt and poverty where their labor is underpaid in order to profit their employers. The benefits of capitalism are rarely equally distributed, accruing wealth to a very small percentage of the population. Built on the notion of greed, benefitting only by paying workers less than what their labor is worth, it’s difficult to not become disenfranchised with capitalism when you exist in this reality and see no end in sight. We can’t become complicit in a system that is designed to keep us down.”
Softcult live dates:
Feb 08 – Rockwood Music Hall Boston, Boston MA*
Feb 09 – Mercury Lounge, New York NY*
Feb 10 – Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia PA*
Feb 13 – Black Cat, Washington DC*
Feb 14 – Neighborhood Theatre (Side Stage), Charlotte NC*
Feb 16 – New World Tampa, Tampa FL^
Feb 17 – Conduit, Winter Park FL
Feb 18 – The Masquerade (Purgatory), Atlanta GA^
Feb 20 – The End, Nashville TN^
Feb 21 – Rumba Café, Columbus OH^
Feb 22 – Preserving Underground, New Kensington PA^
Feb 23 – Mohawk Place, Buffalo NY^
Jun 27 – The Sanctuary, Detroit~
Jun 29 – Cobra Lounge, Chicago~
Jun 30 – Record Bar, Kansas City~
Jul 02 – Bluebird Theater, Denver~
Jul 03 – Soundwell, Salt Lake City~
Jul 05 – The Pearl, Vancouver~
Jul 06 – Madame Lou’s, Seattle~
Jul 07 – Mission Theater, Portland~
Jul 09 – The Starlet Room, Sacramento~
Jul 10 – Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco~
Jul 12 – The Echo, Los Angeles~
Jul 13 – Voodoo Room, San Diego~
Jul 14 – The Rebel Lounge, Phoenix~
Jul 17 – Paper Tiger, San Antonio~
Jul 19 – The Ballroom, Austin~
Jul 20 – Club Dada, Dallas~
Jul 21 – Beer City Music Hall, Oklahoma City~
Jul 22 – Blueberry Hill, St. Louis~
Jul 23 – Mahall’s, Lakewood~
* with Superbloom
^ with Glixen
~ with Present
DeClunk 