SOFT PLASTICS: SATURN RETURN
Soft Plastics released their debut full-length album “Saturn Return” last month and are embarking on a nationwide tour in May. Sam Elliott talked with them about the album and what it means to them to make music.
Photo by Lewis Ferris
Te Whanganui-a-tara three-piece Soft Plastics have been crafting fuzzy, ethereal indie-rock since their first release in 2020, a self-titled double-single combo release. Since then, they’ve been a fixture of gig lineups and SRN playlists up and down the motu. Now, Sophie Scott-Maunder (she/her), Laura Robinson (she/her), and Jonathan Shirley (he/him) have spent three days in Newtown’s Surgery Studios recording with James Goldsmith bringing their debut full-length album Saturn Return together.
The album toys with the difficulty of change and growing up. “I guess a lot of the songs sum up what I was going through at the time.” Says Sophie. “It’s like a timestamp of that period. I think on top of that there was a pandemic, so it was not only saying goodbye to your twenties but it was feeling stuck and isolated. You weren’t able to do what people before you have been able to do, like go and live in London or something.”
I asked Sophie if she thought writing helped her negotiate the change and growth these songs examine.
“Yeah, definitely. Although, now I’ve sorted some of my shit out as a person it’s harder to write songs” she laughs. “Whereas, when I was coming to terms with past relationships or myself it came a lot easier. But I guess they were reflections of where I was at with myself and with other people at the time.”
James Goldsmith’s influence as producer was essential in bringing the album to its full form.
“He was very important in how we crafted these songs. It was a bit of butting heads sometimes. If everything’s good and easy the whole time it probably isn’t that good. It should be a bit of “I’m putting my foot down on this, I’m not changing this.” He did a bit of that back, too. We gave him some points, you know, like “you can have a couple of changes.” In those songs you can definitely hear that they’ve come out that way because of him. It was interesting working with someone that’s not in the band but who has a really good interest in the band.” Says Jonathan.
“Previously, we’d been very DIY. Lots of hanging and recording in a bedroom. This time we wanted to be a bit more professional and having a trusted set of external ears is super helpful too.” he says.
Saturn Return definitely achieves the professional sound Soft Plastics were aiming for. It’s a delightfully dreamy display of indie-rock instrumentation that negotiates the complex but common issues of finding yourself in a moving world. To celebrate the release Soft Plastics are touring Aotearoa through May and June, kicking off on the 5th of June at Darkroom in Ōtautahi.
Tickets can be found via Under the Radar:
https://www.undertheradar.co.nz/gig/83384/Soft-Plastics---Saturn-Return-Album-Release-Tour.utr
