‘Here’s the craic, it’s not cool, we should do something about it. The anti-equality shit that is going on is really fucked up”

SOAK cited in an interview for The Guardian in 2015

Bridie Monds-Watson, more commonly know by her stage name SOAK, is a 22 year old singer-song writer from Derry, Northern Ireland. She’s been likened to range of artists from Ben Howard and Laura Marling to Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. Her music could be described as ethereal folk or dreamy lo-fi indie, but under the beautiful and misty aesthetic her songs have emotive and prominent meanings.

SOAK’s videos very much follow this dreamy, surreal vibe. My personal favourite is the music video for ‘Everybody Loves You’, the first single taken from her second album ‘Grim Town’. The video consists of SOAK meeting 2 groups, a boy group and then a girl group dressed head to toe in pale pink tracksuits. Each member of the group has a caterpillar in a drug bag attached to a chain around their neck.

The reason that I have chosen SOAK as my featured artist for this week in particular is because it is International Women’s Day tomorrow and as an artist, performer and individual she strives for changes to be made in terms of equality concerning a range of issues including women’s and LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance. Her song ‘Sea Creatures’ was written for a friend who was bullied for their sexuality and the video for ‘Reckless Behaviour’ deals with the sensitive topics of suicide, self-harm and mental illness.

The way that SOAK maturely and sensitively writes and provides awareness surrounding a range of topics that many artists wouldn’t dare to, is evidence enough why she should be the featured artist of the week over International Women’s Day. She is using her platform as a writer and performer in an important and meaningful way.

“Everybody Loves You retains that alchemy of old-soul wisdom and youthful positivity which are quintessentially SOAK’s own”.

Article published by XS Noize in 2018

SOAK’s second album, after the release of ‘Before We Forgot How To Dream’ in 2015, is being released on the 26th April this year and is titled ‘Grim Town’. She is then touring for most of May, with her first date in Liverpool on the 3rd and her last day in her hometown of Derry on the 31st. She will be accompanied by Pillow Queens as her support.

Make sure to follow SOAK on her social media links below to stay up to date with news on the new album as well as the lead up to her tour. My top 5 favourite SOAK songs have also been added to the featured artist playlist so give that a follow to discover what they are!