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Dec 14, 2022 By Caleb Campbell

Canadian indie outfit Softcult is the project of twin siblings Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn. Together, the pair channel grunge-tinged shades of shoegaze, dream pop, and punk, held together by a love for ‘90s alternative aesthetics and a stridently DIY ethos. Phoenix heads up production and engineering and Mercedes offers hard-hitting lyricism reflecting on youth, femininity, and growing up as the world falls apart.

The band shared their latest EP, Year of the Snake earlier this year, and they’ve been following it up with a series of singles, including their most recent effort, “Drain.” Next year, they’re set to share another new EP, see you in the dark, and today, they’re teasing the record with a new track, “Someone2Me,” along with an accompanying video, premiering with Under the Radar.

“Someone2Me” is another taste of the band’s layered and evocative style, with the pair locked in a haze of reverb-laden guitars, dream-like harmonies, and scuzzy layers of distortion. The pair painstakingly evokes the heyday of ‘90s shoegaze acts, blurring together shades of light silken melodies and dark crushing layers of noise. It’s an evergreen combination, one that continually pays off for the band, especially when married with their more reflective core.

Meanwhile, the lyrics find Softcult pulling apart the daily realities of misogyny and harassment, spitting venom upon men who feel entitled to women’s time, attention, and bodies: “You think you’re someone to me / Keep holding on like a leech / You think you’re someone to me / You’re just a miserable creep / Show me your soul, sick and depraved / Are you everything you love to hate? / ‘Cause you’re so perverted and they’re all to blame”

The band explains of the track, “As women, we’re often taught to put up with toxic behaviour and just brush it off or ignore it. But I reached a point where I got sick of ignoring it. Harassment is never okay, and it shouldnt have to reach a point where there are threats of violence to be taken seriously.

This song isn’t just about our experiences

It’s about the countless women that have to deal with harassment and abuse from men who adopt incel ideologies as coping mechanisms for their anger and frustration.

This song is everything I want to say to all the incels out there with an obsessive hatred towards women they feel entitled to but will never have.”

Check out the song and video below. Softcult’s new EP, see you in the dark, is due out March 24th via Easy Life Records.