Bridie Monds-Watson, aka SOAK has announced their third album “If I Never Know You Like This Again” today. It will be released by Rough Trade Records on May 20th, 2022. SOAK will celebrate the album with a headline show in Whelans, 26th May ‘22.

Listen to a new track “last july 'If I Never Know You Like This Again' and watch the accompanying video shot by Ellius Grace, which stars Bridie and their partner. If I Never… is the follow up to 2019’s Grim Town and SOAK’s Choice Music Prize winning 2015 debut album Before We Forgot How to Dream.

SOAK’s Bridie Monds-Watson (they/them) has incessantly documented their life in photos and video from a young age. “I hate the idea of getting older and forgetting, or having a family and not being able to perfectly explain a memory or a feeling. I always want to remember exactly how I felt at a certain moment,” they explain. It makes perfect sense then that “If I Never Know You Like This Again'' is made up of what Bridie calls “song-memories”. Having written much of the new album during the pandemic, when time felt at its slowest, Bridie's obsessive need to document each chapter of their life made a marvel of the mundane.

Alongside long-time collaborator Tommy McLaughlin (he/him), the two wrote most of the album together while listening obsessively to indie bands like Broken Social Scene and Pavement and Radiohead’s classic album The Bends. They honed in on this new riff-led, mid-90s sound, “nerding out on guitars and pedals like moronic bros” before recording it with the rest of the band in Attica Studios in Donegal. Previous SOAK albums had either been recorded remotely or by just two people, but If I Never… sees all the members of SOAK in the studio simultaneously. After being away from each other for the majority of the pandemic, it was important to create the record as a band, and the joyful energy of having everyone in the same room again is palpable.

On If I Never…, SOAK’s brilliant melodies are on full display. Lead single ‘last july’ features a masterfully off-kilter vocal set against swooning guitars, creating a lush pop song that wouldn’t be out of place in the end credits of a 90s coming-of-age film. Lyrically, Bridie manages to be both playful and self-aware. The idea of identity is central to the record, and Bridie’s lyrics are as deeply personal as they are universal. “This record is the most accurate picture of me. I felt no pressure at all, it was almost like I was ranting as I was writing,” they explain.“When I was looking to the past, it was as though I had a big lottery ball of all my recent memories and I would just randomly select which one I wanted to unpack. It helped me to process my past.” Tapping into their specific experiences, the result is a record that is deeply relatable and sparkling, as it traverses the ups and downs of their journey to become a fully realized person.

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Artist Bio

A prodigal young talent, SOAK began her musical journey aged 14 when she first wrote breakout track 'Sea Creatures', cutting her teeth and cultivating a passionate following from her home of Derry. Taking her time to develop her craft and complete school, Bridie signed to Rough Trade and released her beautiful debut album, Before We Got How To Dream', in 2015. One of the Mercury Prize's youngest ever nominees, the record also won the prestigious Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year, the Northern Irish Music Prize, saw SOAK shortlisted for a Q Award ('Best New Act'), as well as taking home the European Border Breaker Award. With support ranging from the BBC Sound Poll and Jools Holland to playlist support across Radio 1 and 6Music, all these extreme experiences have taken SOAK far beyond (but often right back to) her close-knit Northern Irish scene.

Three years later, and SOAK is ready to introduce her new project, beginning with the breath-taking 'Everybody Loves You'. We saw the first glimpse of this back in May at BBC 6 Music’s biggest weekend, which was greatly received by fans new and old. More than just an album, SOAK's second album is journey through Bridie’s own emotional and psychological soundscape; an intense collection of musical thoughts and feelings, which mark her move from Derry to Manchester, from loss of identity to self-acceptance, and becoming the young woman/girl she is now.

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