In the years since the Softies' last album, Melberg played in bands like Brave Irene and Knife Pleats, but also dug deeper into her work as a singer-songwriter—releasing incredible, open-hearted records like 2006's Throw the Clouds and of 2009 Homemade shipthat had more in common with the melodic finesse of the Softies' one-time touring act Elliott Smith than Bay Area punk. Her vocal honesty and unvarnished language became elemental, her own indie-pop vernacular. Melberg always seems to speak the language of mixtapes, the kind you do with a message: pinpointing emotions and stating them so directly and unequivocally that it can feel a little scary. In these new Softies songs, the storytelling is often richer and more visual. the oddities of an old house become solid—even when the lyrics are spartan. “Headphones” captures the essence of the duo's reverie with the brevity of a Yoko Ono Grapefruit directions: “Put your headphones/Straight into my heart/Listen/Listen/I love you.” Many of the songs are actually about the songs themselves, how “country radio reminded me that you and I weren't meant to be,” or how “every song is just a sigh, a little passing moment, a puff of smoke , a waterfall, a long distance call'. As always, an indie-pop song reinforces shy talk, a link in the communication chain between introverts.
The most beautiful thing about this spare, shimmering music is the confidence and comfort it conveys even when expressing unbearable emotions. The little anthem “Tiny Flame” seems to micro-focus on a relationship that never flew, but it also magnifies, with the longing of girl company. “It started with a tiny flame/And it ended in tears/I haven't felt this way in years,” Sbraja sings wistfully, anticipating the lingering thud of the rupture. “Baby, when you think of me/Don't forget/We could be something.” These words cut deeper songs from coming of age. But, from the wise vantage point of the Softies, there is also greater power in a fresh start. “Light a fire, let it burn and start again,” Sbraja sings, and with the help of a friend and a song, she does.
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