Well… here we go!
This one has been cooking up intensely behind the scenes over the past year and a half and now is the day that this news can now be shared. Announcing the new forthcoming album entitled Crux containing nine new tracks that will be released officially on 15 May 2026.
There will be more and more information in the near future that has more details about this record. This is the first album in about ten years where the final mixes had someone else involved, and in this case saw the sessions happen in the studios of long time friend and audio extraordinaire Owen Pratt (Nöi Kàbàt, Uncanny Valley) in southern France in November of this past year.
If you’re keen to find out more information in the meantime as it comes, you can:
- Follow the Soft Riot Instagram, Facebook or Bluesky accounts.
- Click the green bell in the bottom right of this website to subscribe to post updates.
- Sign up to the Soft Riot BandCamp mailing list below.
Crux is to be released in digital streaming and download formats as well as a 4-panel, full colour Digipak CD on Possession Records. There will also be a Limited Edition Deluxe LP version available on Minimalkombinat with a full-colour cover panel on glossy stock fixed onto a black card sleeve with a laser-cut plexiglass shape overlay. Available in orange and black splatter vinyl. Vinyl package comes with an exclusive CD containing all tracks from Crux as well as the additional Alter EP of exclusive, alternate and extended versions of tracks from Crux. Alter will also be released separately in June 2026.
It should be noted here that the Minimalkombinat LP version is limited with a higher retail price — should it sell out in relatively short period of time, a standard LP version may be looked into with a more standard (lower) price. We’ll just have to see though!
Pre-order information to come in the very near future so stay tuned for more info!
Overview
On the surface Crux is a continuation of Soft Riot‘s evolution — a singular and intriguing take on elements of classic synthesizer music that seems familiar on the surface, pulling in elements of synth pop, minimal wave, darkwave, new wave, italo, EBM and post-punk by an artist who has been active in many different guises of the ongoing “post-punk revival” since the eve of the turn of the millenium. With that much time involved in an over-arching sub-genre and seeing many trends and styles come and go, it has allowed the artist to fine-tune his craft with an emphasis on creating a unique sound, especially in a day and age when many peers in the scene tailor their music to be appealing for the dance floor, or to tap into existing fanbases.
Overall the songs on Crux are given space to cruise more, and dip into more minimalism than previous albums — an aspect of the music the artist had struggled with in the past but was crafted into place after years of experience. The whole album works out a strategic balance of space, rhythm, sound design, subtle humour, lyrical interplay, mild psychedelia and an enhancement of the aspects of the music that makes Soft Riot unique within the current underground synth scene.
Starting with the angular and driving rhythmic workout of “Moving Out Of The Black” and closing with the expansive and layered “Ghostwriter” that could end up on any given number of dancefloors, as mentioned before the tracks came about naturally based on intuition. Five tracks in we have the sinister yet sensual “Getting To Know You” — a track the artist would say came about from a dream one night and a subconscious feeling. Some might better know this as magic.
Tracklisting
- Moving Out Of The Black
- Everything Sounds The Same
- A Flash And Then It’s Gone
- Other Futures
- Getting To Know You
- Pink Clouds Over Death
- Walking A Phase
- You Think You Have Time (You Have No Time)
- Ghostwriter