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Preorder: Video by Hot wiring dancefloors with their immersive orchestration of uplifting sonic waves, Soft Crash sets out to soundtrack the unified, euphoric heartbeat of the crowds they foster with their mechanical yet fantastical, Italo Body Music. Presenting their highly anticipated EP ‘NRG’, the Berlin-based collaborative project of Berghain resident and BITE label head Hayden Payne (aka Phase Fatale) and French prolific producer Pablo Bozzi works to forge Soft Crash’s unique vocabulary of post-humanist production with the harmonic grandeur of their rhythmic, machine-made anthems. Fresh off the back of their 2022 debut album ‘Your Last Everything’, Soft Crash present their latest 4 track EP ‘NRG’, chronicling their synonymous surrealist visuals infused with the contagious punch of Italo and Synth-wave. Geared towards the dancefloor from a fresh perspective, Bozzi and Payne pull from their respective wheelhouses to curate a sound additionally influenced by Wave-Pop, Acid House and Post-Punk sensibilities. Procuring their cerebral yet zealous indentation of dance music, the EP features sanguine vocals from Kyiv-based singer and musician Ready in LED on the first single ‘Free Yourself’. She comments about the track “I became captivated instantly with the idea of the track that Hayden and Pablo sent me. At that moment, I was a bit tired of carefree disco and wanted to reveal my dark side in music. The demo sounded very daring. This track demands attention to itself from the first seconds. My sources of inspiration were glam rock and grunge. I had a blast in the studio, and I hope the people on the dance floors will feel that energy too.” While full throttle vitality and booming grooves on the title track ‘NRG’ showcase Soft Crash’s take on 90’s sample-filled techno. Closing the extended play with an updated cut of the bewitching ‘Your Last Everything’, featuring Canadian musician and producer Marie Davidson, Soft Crash breathe a new life into the namesake track from their preceding album, concluding with an additional remix of the track by cult favourite producer Alen Skanner. The intrinsic dance floor vigour emulated in NRG further fleshes-out the pair’s recognisable DNA of nurturing a revitalised techno sound, cementing them as pioneers of the Italo Body genre. Soft Crash presents a music video for ‘Free Yourself’, directed and produced by Australian visual artist JW Vigers, who’s work rotates around ideas of queerness in the technological age. Using a variety of 3d methodologies he attempts to create collage-like techniques with new media, layering 3d sculpture, traditional animation, AI and illustration. Vigers explains about the video: “The ‘Free Yourself’ music video features a femme-android in the process of self actualisation. Her body pulls together from chromatic liquid, metamorphosing into a solid humanoid figure. This process of self expression, through the freedom to be as you see yourself, lifts her upwards into the sky. A core component of this video is the ecstasy and discovery that dance music provides to the body. These moments of self discovery are only able to be achieved through freedom. Taking massive inspiration from Ukrainian artist Ready in Led’s artist’s poignant and timely lyrics I was inspired to create a world where the Maschinenmensch from Metropolis is in control of her own creation and therefore her own destiny. The joyful nature of this process is echoed in the technicolour landscape and the reflective quality of the chrome detailing frames this self discovery.”
