M(h)aol announce new album ‘Something Soft’ out 16th May via Merge Records
M(h)aol
Share new single ‘DM:AM’
Photo credit: Cait Fahey | Download
Previous praise for M(h)aol
“The band needs to be on your radar ASAP” Alternative Press
“Delivered with innovation and imagination, Attachment Styles is vital, exhilarating, and an essential listen.” LOUDER ★★★★1/2
“Leftfield and perpetually interesting, this is the future of feminist punk.” Loud & Quiet
“Gritty post-punk with both an important political consciousness and a sense of fun.” NME
“A powerful and distinctive debut effort.” Rolling Stone UK
“ a series of fearless moments that centre on intersectional feminism and reclamation of power, underpinned by a soundtrack of clattering drums and jagged, dissonant guitars.” The Guardian ★★★★
M(h)aol announce their new album Something Soft out 16th May via Merge Records, as well as sharing new single ‘DM:AM’ which premiered via BBC 6 Music’s Huw Stephens.
Based in Dublin, Belfast, and London, Constance Keane (She/Her), Jamie Hyland (She/Her), and Sean Nolan (He/Him), have built a reputation for thrilling live performances, fostering an atmosphere that encourages community and catharsis regardless of where they play. Signing to Merge Records after their outstanding SXSW set, Something Soft is their first release with the esteemed label.
From the first note of Something Soft‘s opening track to the distorted cries of its last, the record feels antagonistic to the very concept of softness, sonically and thematically. It’s an unapologetic approach to intersectional feminism, animal welfare, consumerism, and the struggle to find a place in a world lacking in empathy.
Speaking of new single ‘DM:AM’, the band say “This song is about men DM’ing women online and then getting aggressive when they don’t get the response they want. They quickly turn to insults about the women, and then once the woman says she’ll expose what they’ve done, she gets a laundry list of reasons why he behaves like this and how much he has to lose, which is meant to make the women feel sorry for them.”
Something Soft features a more urgent sound wound tightly around Hyland and Keane’s rhythm. On the already released singles ‘Pursuit’ and ‘Snare’, Keane’s vocals lock in on her drums, as if her words were stirred to life by her playing, issued directly from her body. Set against those respectively anxious and swaggering tracks, her voice occupies the space of an inner monologue narrating a tense walk home, and green room misogyny from a place of droll observance.
Like its predecessors Attachment Styles and the Gender Studies EP released via TULLE, Something Soft was recorded by Jamie Hyland (who has also worked with Gilla Band, Lambrini Girls’ acclaimed debut, The Psychotic Monks). It is the most technically nimble of M(h)aol’s recordings to date, with the band – joined by Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra’s Sarah Deegan on bass – decamping to Dublin’s Ailfionn Studio where they took advantage of the space and studio equipment to bring more nuance to their sound.
The polish serves to highlight M(h)aol’s roguish charms, making the intimate feel anthemic, using personal experience to detail the broader systems we live under. For those who’ve come to recognise themselves in their songs, listening to Something Soft is like jumping into a long-running chat thread, full of fury and humour.
Attachment Styles received 4* reviews from The Guardian, Louder, as well as support from NME, Pitchfork, Brooklyn Vegan, BBC 6 Music, Matt Wilkinson, The Line Of Best Fit, Rough Trade, CRACK, Hot Press, Loud & Quiet, DORK, DIY, So Young, The Irish Times, and more.
Tour Dates
9 March – TV Eye, NYC
11 March – 12 March – SXSW, Austin
15 March – Permanent Records Roadhouse, LA
17 March – The Vera Project – Seattle
16 May – The George Tavern, London
18 May – Le Botaniques, Brussels
28 May – The Black Box, Belfast (w/ Cola & Junk Drawer)
29 May – Sandinos, Derry (w/ Cola & Junk Drawer)
30 May – The Roisin Dubh, Galway (w/ Cola & Junk Drawer)
31 May – Kasbah Social Club, Limerick (w/ Cola & Junk Drawer)
1 June – Coughlans, Cork (w/ Cola & Junk Drawer)
2 June – Coughlans, Cork (w/ Cola & Junk Drawer)
3 June – Luca Records and Decks, Waterford (w/ Cola & Junk Drawer)
4 June – Whelan’s, Dublin (w/ Cola & Junk Drawer)
Something Soft album artwork
Something Soft
out 16th May 2025 via Merge Records
Tracklisting
01. Pursuit
02. I Miss My Dog
03. You Are Temporary, But the Internet Is Forever
04. DM:AM
05. E8/N16
06. Vin Disel
07. Clementine
08. Snare
09. IBS
10. 1800-Call-Me-Back
11. Coda
Bio for M(h)aol:
Something Soft, the second full-length album by Irish post-punk firebrands M(h)aol, is anything but. From the first note of its propulsive opening track to the distorted cries of its last, Something Soft feels antagonistic to the very concept of softness, sonically and thematically, taking an unapologetic approach to intersectional feminism, animal welfare, consumerism, and the struggle to find a place in a world lacking in empathy. What M(h)aol offers is catharsis, in two forms: the kind you get from being open with others, and the kind you get from righteously smashing some shit up.
Effectively channeling rage and empathy is an act of resilience, and to make Something Soft, M(h)aol had to become especially resilient. Following their acclaimed debut Attachment Styles, M(h)aol’s line-up changed, settling on the core trio of Constance Keane (drums/vocals, she/her), Jamie Hyland (bass/vocals, she/her), and Sean Nolan (guitar, he/him). That process changed the band’s approach to songwriting and performing, resulting in an unexpected breakthrough where many groups have folded.
Something Soft features a more urgent sound wound tightly around Hyland and Keane’s rhythm. On songs like “Pursuit” and “Snare,” Keane’s vocals lock in on her drums, as if her words were stirred to life by her playing, issued directly from her body. Set against those respectively anxious and swaggering tracks, her voice occupies the space of an inner monologue narrating a tense walk home, and green room misogyny from a place of droll observance, a universal experience rendered in specific detail.
Like its predecessors Attachment Styles and the Gender Studies EP, Something Soft was recorded by Jamie Hyland. It is the most technically nimble of M(h)aol’s recordings to date, with the band—joined by Pixie Cut Rhythm Orchestra’s Sarah Deegan on bass—decamping to Dublin’s Ailfionn Studio where they took advantage of the space and studio equipment to bring more nuance to their sound. The additional sessions and prowess behind the boards were a boon, but for a band used to operating under extreme time constraints, this presented an unexpected challenge: Could M(h)aol keep the sense of immediacy that had marked their music up to that point?
Songs like “ quickly dispelled that worry, blooming into life in 20 minutes from a drone Nolan was playing while Hyland set up her recording equipment, racing to capture the song once Keane and Deegan joined in. One of Something Soft’s ghosting anthems, “1800-Call-Me-Back,” began as a joke that the band should write a football chant, but it became far more complex—the delicious balance of chaos and clarity they struck would have been impossible without time. “I Miss My Dog” is less off-the-cuff, but its meditation on grief builds up at a breakneck pace, from feedback to Keane’s drumming and singing to a spectacular conclusion that smothers that grief in bass and guitar, one of M(h)aol’s greatest technical achievements to date.
The polish serves to highlight M(h)aol’s roguish charms, making the intimate feel anthemic, using personal experience to detail the broader systems we live under. For those who’ve come to recognize themselves in M(h)aol’s songs, listening to Something Soft is like jumping into a long-running chat thread, full of fury and humor. For those who haven’t, the door is open—Something Soft’s thrills often turn on a dime towards introspection, as in “Snare” where Keane’s response to the question “Why not play something soft like piano or violin?” resolves itself to one of her Did you ask him too?” It’s not a lecture or a snide rebuke but something much more deft: an invitation to see the world for what it really is, starting with the listener.