{"id":34455,"date":"2020-06-15T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T16:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=34455"},"modified":"2020-06-14T11:28:52","modified_gmt":"2020-06-14T15:28:52","slug":"torontos-soft-set-announce-debut-single-never-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=34455","title":{"rendered":"Toronto&#8217;s Soft Set announce debut single &#8216;Never Die&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Dream pop \/ indie rock duo\u00a0Soft Set have announced their debut single\u00a0<em>Never Die<\/em>, the lead track from their debut EP. Titled<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>&#8216;Love and Dancing&#8217;, this beautiful first EP was mixed in Oxford, UK by\u00a0Ride\u00a0frontman and celebrated producer Mark Gardener in his recently-launched world-class\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ox4sound.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\">OX4\u00a0Sound Studio<\/a>. Listen to the dreamy single via SoundCloud below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-soundcloud wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-soundcloud wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Never Die by Soft Set\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?visual=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F826768975&#038;show_artwork=true&#038;maxheight=750&#038;maxwidth=500&#038;secret_token=s-rwaU6b4bfki\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Soft Set is a songwriting and music collaboration between\u00a0James Gray and\u00a0Nathan Athay, two life-long friends who became musical collaborators years after growing up together in Barrie and then Toronto, Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Laced with dayglo dream-inspired sonic glee of 90s indie rock royalty such as shoegaze icons Ride, Soft Set&#8217;s brand of melodic pop-rock is earnest and natural. Cloaked in the finest realm of nostalgic reverie, this debut single <em>Never Die<\/em> is equally stunning and infectious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<em>Before we started this project, we agreed to never intentionally try to sound like anyone but ourselves. We really wanted to take an honest approach in the process and never discounted any ideas that we presented to each other. We gave everything a chance to see what worked and what didn\u2019t and took it from there,&#8221; <\/em>says\u00a0James Gray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He continues, <em>&#8220;I think what makes this album so special is that it\u2019s very relatable. The lyrics are about feelings and settings that everyone experienced in one form, or another and we feel each song is consistent with that&#8221;.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not long after meeting during high school, they quickly realized that they had much in common, especially when it came to their taste in music. Nathan started playing drums in a local shoegaze, space rock band and James wasn\u2019t far behind, learning guitar and writing songs of his own. Soon after, James became the band\u2019s backup guitar player, filling in whenever the main guitar player couldn\u2019t make a show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although that band lasted only a few years, James and Nathan continued to work separately on other projects, as well as working together whenever they could. Things really amped up in 2006 when James and Nathan were part of a Toronto indie rock band, recording their debut album at\u00a0E5 Studios Downtown. James and Nathan learned a lot about recording and production through this process, inspiring them to continue to push themselves musically, eventually creating what is now Soft Set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guided by Mark Gardener \/ OX4 Sound and drawing on influences from iconic artists that have inspired them on their musical path \u2013 The Stone Roses, Smiths, My Bloody Valentine, RIDE, Slowdive, Happy Mondays, Boo Radleys, Mercury Rev \u2013 it\u2019s no surprise that Soft Set\u2019s debut EP is a body of work that is sure to appeal to a broad audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<em>This debut is incredibly special for both of us as we\u2019re showcasing everything we\u2019ve learned from the other projects we\u2019ve been in in the last 20 years. We\u2019re extremely proud of this body of work and we hope people enjoy the music as much as we did making it,&#8221;<\/em> says\u00a0Nathan Athay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Never Die<\/em> will be available digitally via online stores and streaming platforms on July 17. It is also available as 7&#8243; vinyl limited run of 100 with b-side (out\u00a0on August 14) and can be pre-ordered directly from the artist via\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/softset.bandcamp.com\/album\/never-die-single\" target=\"_blank\">Bandcamp<\/a>. The duo&#8217;s debut &#8216;Love and Dancing&#8217; EP will be released\u00a0on<a href=\"x-apple-data-detectors:\/\/11\"> <\/a>September 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Dream pop \/ indie rock duo\u00a0Soft Set have announced their debut single\u00a0Never Die, the lead track from their debut EP. Titled\u00a0&#8216;Love and Dancing&#8217;, this beautiful <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=34455\" title=\"Toronto&#8217;s Soft Set announce debut single &#8216;Never Die&#8217;\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"On Culture Addicts: Toronto's Soft Set announce debut single 'Never Die'","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22,23,28,30,5812],"tags":[9305,9304,9302,979,9303],"class_list":["post-34455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guitar-rock","category-indie","category-music","category-new-release","category-shoegaze","tag-love-and-dancing","tag-mark-gardener","tag-never-die","tag-ride","tag-soft-set"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cultureaddicts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/A3DA8B76-6559-42BE-BB44-9F9C5543EB71.jpeg?fit=425%2C283&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2B2TV-8XJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40664,"url":"https:\/\/cultureaddicts.com\/?p=40664","url_meta":{"origin":34455,"position":0},"title":"Philadelphia shoegazers Soft No share debut single \u2018Take Your Word\u2019","author":"cultureaddicts","date":"June 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On the searing\u00a0Take Your Word, Philadelphia alternative shoegaze band\u00a0Soft No\u00a0delivers a heavy dose of aggression. 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