Overview
Release date: Friday, 15 May 2026
Crux is the latest, forthcoming album to be released by Soft Riot, the singular synth project by Glasgow-based Canadian synth auteur Jack Duckworth (also known as JJD). Prolific in his steady stream of releases and frequent live performances, Crux is set to be released in spring of 2026 and follows up on the back of recent albums such as No. (2023) and When Push Comes To Shove (2019).
After the release of the previous album No., a personal decision was made after the exhaustive release promotion and gig schedule — to stop writing for a while and wait for the next creative wave that was sure to come.
While busy working on other creative projects as a “palette cleanser”, a full fifteen months would pass before the lightbulb of inspiration turned itself back on. Leading up to that moment an assessment was made to what was working and what as not working in both writing and performance, leading a lengthy tome of scribbled notes. The result was a patient wait to be able to get fully emersed into engaged frame of mind and to muster the right energy to pull out the songs that comprise this nine track album. The result is a collection of songs where many of the tracks just flowed out subconsciously without over-thinking or over-labouring any of the tracks. After a few years of trying to tap into this rich headspace, it could be said he finally found it.
And after a string of self-produced albums over the course of a decade that showcased Soft Riot’s sound design skills from accumulative years of experience, with Crux the decision was taken to go down a different avenue — opting to dial in the final mixes with Owen Pratt, formerly of London-based experimental electronic groups Női Kabát and Uncanny Valley and an in-demand underground producer with credits that include Lebanon Hanover, Qual, Chaos International and PC World as well as having done live concert recordings for artists diverse as Ryuichi Sakamoto and Lana Del Rey.
The two worked together on Soft Riot’s 2015 album You Never Know What Might Come Next, and following this gap of ten years saw Soft Riot travel down to southern France to Pratt’s Shepardtone Studios where the two put their creative heads together — with the benefit of an added ten years of experience — to sculpt out the rich sonic landscapes that comprise the nine tracks from this album.
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.
Many artists will say their latest work is their favourite yet, as it’s fresh and in tune with their current headspace. In the case of Crux, the feeling and overall energy of the nine tracks hold true more than just being in the here and now.
To follow up with the release Crux is to be an extended EP called Alter, featuring alternate and extended mixes of select tracks from the album as well as an unreleased track from the Crux sessions. Alter itself attests to the artist’s viewpoint that from conception to conclusion, a piece of music created by someone has any given number of possibilities of where it can go.
Crux is released in digital formats, a 4-panel, full colour Digipak CD with insert as well as a Standard Vinyl LP on Possession Records. The album has also been pressed as a Limited Edition Deluxe LP version on Minimalkombinat but that version sold out within a week of pre-orders going up.
The Limited Edition Deluxe LP comes with a full-colour cover panel on glossy stock fixed onto a black card sleeve with a laser-cut plexiglass shape overlay and pressed orange and black splatter vinyl. A full colour, double-sided, printed insert is included in the sleeve along 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.
Due to the demand of the Limited Edition Deluxe LP, another Standard Vinyl LP format is available. This version has the same artwork and pressed on the same orange and black splatter vinyl, but with the artwork on the cover and black printed on a standard LP sleeve with a slightly different full colour, double-sided printed insert. This version includes a standard digital download of the album.
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
Images
