A return for one of Ireland’s most distinctive songwriting voices, with a new song, a fresh round of Irish dates, and a London show with Pulp all landing at once.
Bridie Monds-Watson – SOAK – has shared ‘death valley fridge magnet’ on Rough Trade Records, their first new solo material in over four years. It follows the 2024 viral collaboration with Fred again.. on ‘just stand there’, and collaborations with Niamh Regan and Gordi.
Monds-Watson previously announced a small intimate Irish tour starting next week, taking in a bookshop in Kinsale, a pub in Ballydehob, a record shop in Waterford, the Glenveagh Inn in Termon.
The new track comes from a difficult place.
Monds-Watson: “When I wrote ‘death valley fridge magnet’, I was feeling incredibly lost in my life. I’d started having vocal issues and thought my time in music was coming to an end. I think I was trying to make sense of myself and the direction I was headed by painting a picture of the world from where I was standing. In doing so I realised how precious and treasured my friendships are and how my friends remind me of who I am faster than anything else. Even if that’s a two minute long conversation at a truck stop in the middle of nowhere, America, it doesn’t take much and it all adds up.”
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It’s the kind of song that’s made SOAK such a singular presence in Irish songwriting from the start. The accompanying video was shot by Charlotte Langel.
An appearance in Other Voices’ new Anam Sessions, filmed live from Emo Court House also premieres today.
After the Irish dates, SOAK plays a sold-out London headline show and a support slot with Pulp at Rough Trade’s 50th Anniversary event at Royal Festival Hall, before heading to the US this autumn supporting The Barr Brothers, including a stop at Bowery Ballroom in New York.
SOAK tour dates:
- June 29th – Waterford, Luca Records and Decks
- June 30th – Kinsale, Prim’s Bookshop
- July 1st – Clonakilty, De Barra’s Folk Club
- July 3rd – Waterville, Tech Amergin
- July 4th – Ballydehob, Levis Corner House
- July 5th – Dingle, The Green Room
- July 7th – Galway, Róisín Dubh
- July 11th – Termon, Glenveagh Inn
- July 17th – London, Third Man Records / The Blue Basement (SOLD OUT)
- July 18th – London, Royal Festival Hall, supporting Pulp (SOLD OUT)
- October 28th – Brattleboro VT, The Stone Church (w/ The Barr Brothers)
- October 29th – New York, Bowery Ballroom (w/ The Barr Brothers)
- October 30th – Providence RI, The Met (w/ The Barr Brothers)
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
