Softmax

On April 25th, Chicago-based artist and producer Softmax releasd A/B side singles ‘Anaesthesia’ and ‘Ghost In The Shell.’

Both songs experience loss and death from different angles: “Anaesthesia” fears and denies it, while ‘Ghost In The Shell’ is its inevitable observer. Both tracks were prompted by Softmax’s witnessing of a family member’s last days in hospice care with dementia. ‘Anaesthesia’ and ‘Ghost In The Shell’ were written by Softmax and co-produced by Softmax and her frequent collaborator, Berlin-based producer <a href="spotify:artist:7ceIRf4Nyq04yXCq4HXLgj" data-name="Gabriel Gifford">Gabriel Gifford</a>.

Softmax’s unique take on pop is inspired by her city’s blues heritage and nonconformist artists like <a href="spotify:artist:5OK8j1JnhoBlivN32G7yOO" data-name="This Mortal Coil">This Mortal Coil</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6ZEUa75BqZkvpjhuVzCsdX" data-name="Swamp Dogg">Swamp Dogg</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:3iJJD5v7oIFUevW4N5w5cj" data-name="Arthur Russell">Arthur Russell</a>, and the sophisticated experimental pop of <a href="spotify:artist:3fhOTtm0LBJ3Ojn4hIljLo" data-name="Roxy Music">Roxy Music</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:0NKDgy9j66h3DLnN8qu1bB" data-name="Eurythmics">Eurythmics</a>.

These singles will mark her first release of new music since her EP Any Minute Now in December of 2023. Dramatic and dystopian, Any Minute Now reflected on a period of time in which Softmax’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) became its most unmanageable and she, her most paranoid. The EP featured co-production from <a href="spotify:artist:3Dsj31QwoB51xRtvTojQZ5" data-name="Samuel Organ">Samuel Organ</a>, Joel Ford, and Gabriel Gifford.

<a href="spotify:album:47ZA06UPW5mUsMFK4gF7Jl" data-name="Any Minute Now">Any Minute Now</a> lead with single <a href="spotify:track:4mlHkdQDCIi4ft60w6drAk" data-name="Swishers">Swishers</a>, finding support from David Dean Burkhart, DMY and Secretly Canadian, BBC Radio play from Tom Ravenscroft and Deb Grant, as well as opening slots in Chicago for <a href="spotify:artist:67FB4n52MgexGQIG8s0yUH" data-name="Lola Young">Lola Young</a> and Mary Jane Dunphe, as well as <a href="spotify:artist:1ZzqxDkqNDAJVaNO1xue3P" data-name="Fabiana Palladino">Fabiana Palladino</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:19h4y2F9duQ776bv1YhQYt" data-name="Yves Jarvis">Yves Jarvis</a>.