When You’re Young and Reckless…
Many of us are old enough to remember the year 1997 when Bridie Monds-Watson, better known by her stage name SOAK, was born. But she’s been playing guitar and solo gigs since before she was old enough to drive, and released her first EP before she was legally an adult. Now, before she is legally allowed to drink in the States (she’s from Ireland so being 18 she’s able to tip a few back there), SOAK has released her debut full-length, Before We Forgot How To Dream.
Her high-pitched, breathy voice remains that way in How To Dream but is accompanied by more than just a guitar this time. She hasn’t let go of her acoustic, but has added a slew of sound, including cymbals, piano and more strings. While she does still sound fragile, she physically doesn’t sound as young. She consistently acknowledges her indecisiveness, which she does in the very first line of the album in “B a noBody”: “The teenage heart is an unguided dart,” so we never forget that she is a young woman searching for herself.
“Wait” is a track that might go unnoticed, but for no good reason. It isn’t one of her more upbeat tracks that might get stuck in your head, but it encompasses all of the aforementioned instruments, remains a pretty and well-flowing song and gives us another glimpse into the mind of SOAK: “You’ll be waitin’ your whole life / You’ll be wastin’ all your time.”
Monds-Watson still has her best years ahead of her. If she continues to musically document her journey, we should be in for an even bigger treat in the future. Before We Forgot How To Dream is touching, but also makes it clear that there is so much potential to still uncover.
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