Soft Riot- Fiction Prediction Out Now

A London based Soft Riot is a project of Jack Duckworth a former Vancouverite who has clocked over fifteen years of musical output in various bands and projects. With origins from the mid-nineties in the vibrant art-punk/hardcore dominating the West Coast American/Canadian underground at the time, JJD followed a trajectory through to the revival of synthbased post-punk music just over a decade or so ago, which spawned a number of highly successful Canadian artists out of that scene. 

His new album is entitled 'Fiction Prediction' is a collection of songs selected for a first official LP release, these tracks being a confident advancement in the unique and engaging “Soft Riot” sound developed on prior releases. Drawing inspiration from synthesizer-based film soundtracks of yesteryear, drones, early EBM, minimal synth, a dose of psychedelic synthpop and a heavy dose of throbbing appregiated rhythms, Soft Riot is a science-fiction heavy soundscape that narrates the listener through today’s fractured, excessive landscape with hints of black humour Soft Riot, coming from a more punk rock pedigree, often places more focus than the norm on his lyrical content, bringing in detailed pictures and sometimes even linear narrative storylines to subjects such as modern living, technology, surveillance, environment, overpopulation, enlightenment, life elsewhere, forewarning about catastrophic events, vain people in gyms, and not having enough time. 

The influences come less from other musical artists but more so from written fiction and film —a future predicted by fiction. Where in past musical ventures the path would be aggression, stomp and noise; Soft Riot takes those energies and experiments more with anxiety of tension and unease. A number of these tracks were released in the spring/ summer of 2012 on the limited edition cassette “Hyperbolic Masses”, which was self-released is now completely out of print.

Soft Riot- No Longer Stranger LP Announced

Soft Riot is Jack Duckworth, a former Vancouverite now living in London who traces his musical beginnings to the vibrant underground art-punk/hardcore scene emergent across the Canadian and American west coasts in the mid-90s. Duckworth was among the fixtures in that community’s northern outpost before helping to consolidate the early outpourings of a larger pre-“synth/new-wave” revival with his band Radio Berlin alongside others like Black Mountain, Wolf Parade, Frog Eyes, etc, though his output has shifted at least a few degrees from that older sound. 

His move to London is at the heart of his ongoing personal maintenance; the new atmosphere and cultural dynamic giving fuel to Soft Riot, previously just a concept. Originally released as a shorter EP on Vancouver imprint Panospria, 'No Longer Stranger' has been expanded by the addition of two re-recorded contemporaneous tracks into an eight song LP for its appearance on San Diego’s Volar Records. 'No Longer Stranger' is not late night club music, but the soundtrack to dimly lit rooms and dark street corners. Its futurist outlook is paired expertly with his well-explored interest in film, making for a uniquely cinematic listening experience. Pulsating synths add layers of drama while less menacing, semi-ambivalent vocals narrate the sonic experience.

Coming later in spring, Soft Riot is releasing an album of all new material entitled 'Fiction Prediction' via Other Voices in Europe and Volar in the US. Duckworth has a track along with Linea Aspera, Mild Peril, Női Kabát and others on the recently released and highly anticipated 'And You Will Find Them In The Basement 12”' from Desire Records.