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Soft Play

Soft Play (stylised in all caps) are an English punk rock duo formed by Isaac Holman (lead vocals, drums) and Laurie Vincent (backing vocals, guitar, bass) in Royal Tunbridge Wells in 2012.[1] They were known as Slaves until 2022, when they changed their name due to their original name's unwanted connotations.[2]

Soft Play
Vincent (left) and Holman (right) performing in August 2015
Background information
Also known asSlaves (2012–2022)
OriginRoyal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England
Genres
Years active2012–present
Labels
Members
  • Isaac Holman
  • Laurie Vincent
Websitesoftplayband.com

History

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The band was formed as a duo after Holman and Vincent failed to recruit other musicians to join their punk band, and began sharing songwriting duties. Vincent later stated that this was an unexpected benefit as they could tour easily and cheaply in a small van due to only needing two people's worth of equipment.

As Slaves, the band released their first EP, Sugar Coated Bitter Truth, under Boss Tuneage Records in 2012. Their first single, "Where's Your Car Debbie?", was released by Fonthill Records in early 2014; they were then signed by Virgin EMI.[3] They released their first single under Virgin, "Hey", in November 2014, and released "The Hunter" later that month. They gained more exposure in late 2015 when "The Hunter" was featured on the Sky One series You, Me and the Apocalypse. They also appeared on Later... with Jools Holland and were nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2015.[4][5]

In May 2015, The Fader featured the group in an article about provocative names for music artists.[6] Vincent told The Fader that criticism of the name came as a surprise to them, describing how they chose the name while trying to think of "an abrasive sounding word, like Clash". He further said, "We just liked the word. We weren't trying to provoke."[7] The two also addressed the controversy around their name in a statement on Facebook: "Our band name relates to people not being in control of their day to day lives. Slaves was our way of getting off the paths we didn't want to walk down anymore. The music we make is motivational and aimed at people personally as well as collectively."[6]

The duo released their debut album Are You Satisfied? on 1 June 2015.[8] It reached No. 8 in its first week on the UK Albums Chart.[9] The album was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize and has since gone Silver in the UK.[10][11][12] They released their second album Take Control on 30 September 2016. Beastie Boys member Mike D produced the album, and was featured on the track "Consume or Be Consumed". The album fared better in the charts than the first, climbing to No. 6 in its first week on the UK Albums Chart.[13] They released their third album Acts of Fear and Love on 17 August 2018, which reached number 8 on the UK album charts.[14] In July 2019, the band released a four-track EP titled The Velvet Ditch and played a headline set at Truck Festival.

In December 2022, they changed their name to Soft Play. They explained, "The name 'Slaves' is an issue [and] doesn't represent who we are as people or what our music stands for any longer."[2] Their fourth studio album (and first under their new name) Heavy Jelly was released on 19 July 2024.[15]

Influences

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They have stated that their earliest mutual influences include the Clash, Rancid, Ramones, Gang of Four, Billy Childish, and Talking Heads.[16]

Members

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  • Isaac Holman – lead vocals, drums, trumpet, flute, trombone, violin
  • Laurence "Laurie" Vincent – guitars, mandolin, bass, keyboards, backing vocals

Discography

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Studio albums

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As Slaves

List of studio albums, with chart positions and certifications
Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[17] 		SCO
[17]
Are You Satisfied? 8 13
Take Control
  • Released: 30 September 2016
  • Label: Virgin EMI
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download
 6 9
Acts of Fear and Love
  • Released: 17 August 2018
  • Label: Virgin EMI
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download
 8 8

As Soft Play

List of studio albums as Soft Play, with selected details
Title Details Peak chart positions
UK
[17] 		SCO
[17]
Heavy Jelly
  • Released: 19 July 2024
  • Label: BMG
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download
 3 1

Extended plays

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List of EPs, with selected details
Title Details
Sugar Coated Bitter Truth
  • Released: 19 July 2012[19]
  • Label: Girl Fight Records
  • Formats: CD, Digital download
The Velvet Ditch
  • Released: 18 July 2019
  • Label: Virgin EMI
  • Formats: Digital download

Singles

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As lead artist

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Title Year Album
As Slaves
"Where's Your Car Debbie?"[20] 2014 Non-album single
"Hey"[21] Are You Satisfied?
"The Hunter"[22]
"Feed the Mantaray" 2015
"Cheer Up London"[23]
"Sockets"[24]
"Spit It Out"[25] 2016 Take Control
"Take Control"[26]
"Cut and Run"[27] 2018 Acts of Fear and Love
"Chokehold"[28]
"Magnolia"[29]
"One More Day Won't Hurt"[30] 2020 The Velvet Ditch
As Soft Play
"Punk's Dead"[31] 2023 Heavy Jelly
"Mirror Muscles"[32] 2024
"Act Violently"
"Everything and Nothing"
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Title Year Peak
chart
positions 		Album
UK
[17]
"Control"[33]
(Chase & Status featuring Slaves) 		2016 – Tribe
"Momentary Bliss"
(Gorillaz featuring Slowthai & Slaves) 		2020 58 Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Songwriting and production credits

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Title Year Artist(s) Album Contribution Written with: Produced with:
"Missing"[34] 2019 Slowthai Nothing Great About Britain
  • Co-writers
  • Co-producers
Kwes Darko

References

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  1. ^ Hutchcraft, Jak (22 October 2013). "We talked to punk duo Slaves about LA Haine an being in love". noisey.vice.com. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Slaves: British punk band change name to Soft Play after criticism". BBC News. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Tunbridge Wells punk band The Slaves signed to Virgin EMI". Kent and Sussex Courier. 4 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  4. ^ "BBC Sounds of 2015". Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. ^ "NME News Slaves confuse Bono on debut 'Jools Holland' performance". NME.com. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Slaves respond to criticism over their band name". NME. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  7. ^ Cliff, Amy (26 March 2015). "Why Would A Band of White Dudes Name Themselves Slaves?". The FADER. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Interview: Slaves - "I Think It Has Quite An Instant Feel And Message"". Inveterate. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  9. ^ "SLAVES". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Mercury Prize 2015 shortlist". BBC. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  11. ^ Geddes, Clarke (16 June 2015). "Reviews Slaves Are You Satisfied?". Clash Music.
  12. ^ "Slaves". Unrecorded. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016.
  13. ^ "take+control | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  14. ^ "SLAVES on Instagram: "Doing an album"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Heavy Jelly | CD".
  16. ^ Laurie Vincent (Slaves) - In Conversation With John Robb, retrieved 29 August 2023
  17. ^ a b c d e "Slaves - UK Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 July 2024. Cite error: The named reference "UK" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  18. ^ "British certifications – Slaves". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 7 February 2017. Type Slaves in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  19. ^ "Sugar Coated Bitter Truth by Slaves on iTunes". itunes.apple.com. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  20. ^ "Where's Your Car Debbie? - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". iTunes. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  21. ^ "Hey - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  22. ^ "The Hunter - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  23. ^ "Cheer Up London (Slaves x Mike Skinner x Jammer) [Remix] - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  24. ^ "Sockets - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  25. ^ "Spit It Out 7" Single". shop.virginemi.com/slaves. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  26. ^ "Take Control 7"". shop.virginemi.com/slaves. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  27. ^ "Cut and Run - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  28. ^ "Slaves talk their new album Acts of Fear and Love, first/wrong impressions, and auditioning for a new drummer". The Independent. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  29. ^ "Magnolia - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  30. ^ "One More Day Won't Hurt (Bob Vylan Remix) - Single by Slaves". Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  31. ^ "Punk's Dead - Single by SOFT PLAY on Apple Music". Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  32. ^ "Mirror Muscles - Single by SOFT PLAY on Apple Music". Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  33. ^ "Control (feat. Slaves) - Single by Chase & Status on Apple Music". itunes.apple.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  34. ^ "Nothing Great About Britain (Deluxe) / slowthai". Tidal. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
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