Song Premiere: Good Good Blood – Soak

Last year we wrote about two releases from Good Good Blood, the solo project of Fox Food Records’ James Smith. His self-titled début was a great introduction to his sound, a lo-fi folk album with experimental leanings which hinted at the direction taken on the Hymnal EP, where  everything was buried beneath atmospheric ambient recordings. The reluctance to settle in one genre is interesting, meaning Smith avoids the tropes common to clear-cut styles and keeps the listener guessing at to what direction he’d take us in next.

The answer, at least for now, is coming in the form of O Belong, a new album due for release on the 26th April (not coincidentally the second birthday of Fox Food Records). Recorded at home at the start of this year, the release feels very much like a progression for Good Good Blood. You’ll have to wait the whole thing but we are lucky enough to bring you an exclusive stream of the lead single, ‘Soak’.

‘Soak’ sounds like a song which began at the intersection of the first two albums, utilising the lo-fi folk aesthetic of the first release but with more of the experimental tendencies of the second, but quickly went off on a tangent, a new, third direction for Good Good Blood. Layering simple guitar, deep percussion and ambient drones, Smith creates something lush and warm without compromising on his lo-fi ideals, Warren Hildebrand’s production allowing the track a full-bodied feel without smoothing over any of the small details. The result is a genre-straddling gem, hovering between the Bandcamp generation bedroom pop and radio-friendly pop folk.

Lyrically, the song follows Hymnal EP‘s lead, managing to sound at once sweeping and intimate, the vague declarations both sincere and meaningful, like late night promises you’d only dare voice to a single, special person. The trick, I think, is how Smith balances vulnerability and assuredness. By lowering his guard to share personal sentiments of love and hope and faith he grows paradoxically stronger, defenceless by choice, because he no longer wants or needs the insulating, cumbersome weight of protective layers.

“Soak

Your soul in rain

I feel your pain

For what it’s worth.

I hear

You sing a song

Called ‘O Belong’

This ain’t your curse”

O Belong is set for release on the 26th April and you can pre-order it now via the Fox Food Records Bandcamp page, including on cassette.