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Glasgow-Based Retro Synth Project Soft Riot Debuts Video for “It Never Takes Long to Say No”

There’s no affection when the the feeling is black

Sparring ‘bout an “eye for an eye” — mythomaniac!

If someone told you it was gonna be this way before

You’d probably just remain as far away as you can evermore

Glasgow-based synth project Soft Riot is a delightful oddity that, thankfully, defies easy categorization. This long running retro-tinged, multidisciplinary, and undeniably imaginative endeavour recently graced us with a quirky and surreal tenth studio album, “No,” back in August. Among the collection of songs, a particular gem shines bright — It Never Takes Long to Say No, a track that waltzes through the cosmos of synth melodies, taking a detour into the land of experimental rhythms.

Imagine, if you will, a sonic collage, one where the influences of Skinny Puppy, Psyche, and Martin Dupont are not merely blended but alchemized into something akin to art-pop gold. Here, the haunting vocals of Canadian expat Jack Duckworth float effortlessly over a carefully orchestrated mélange of synth and percussion, striking a balance between the dynamic and the intriguing.

It Never Takes Long to Say No depicts a struggle against overwhelming nonsense and illogical situations. Despite constant effort, one may feel their energy unreciprocated, leading to a trap of poor decisions and counterattacks. This dark, repetitive reality is likened to a mythomaniac’s tale, suggesting the futility in expecting different results from the same actions. The song emphasizes the ease and importance of saying no to such draining, cyclical negativity.

In a shift from his previous, more elaborate visual endeavours, Duckworth embraced a different trajectory for his latest video project. This time around, he found himself walking a tightrope between spontaneity and meticulous craftsmanship, all under the watchful eye of a looming deadline. This balancing act, challenging yet invigourating, allowed him to harness the fleeting momentum, ensuring that the creative spark remained alight. The urgency of the timeline honed his artistic focus.
“…Coming to this new video, I wanted to do something that was more impulsive and instinctual that could be assembled at a rate closer to the speed of what my mind was thinking,” he explains. “I was looking for something that could act more as visual or texture and work with the energy in any augmented physical space it would be watched in — abstract and stylised but without being too anonymous. I shot all of the footage in record time. Then, from there just started hacking it up, mulching it and rendering it through my own visual filter which is by far the process I’m most interested in — and the most fun. And doing all that I still retain an attentive eye so the details were being covered so in the end it looks convincing, at least to me.”
Watch the video for “It Never Takes Long to Say No” below:

Soft Riot’s “No.” is out now. The record can be acquired through Possession Records and Wave Tension Records (NL).

Order the album here.

Follow Soft Riot:

Alice Teeple

Alice Teeple is a photographer, multidisciplinary artist, and writer. She is not in Tin Machine.

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