Jess Day releases new single 'Softness' and announces new album 'A Small Garden Of Disappointments' will be released in October
Image: Jeff Andersen Jnr
Published: 7 August 2024
Australia’s Jess Day has today released her new single, ‘Softness’, the third taste of her debut album A Small Garden Of Disappointments which will be released on October 11.
‘Softness’ is a moody indie-pop track, with snatches of punk and new wave with a chorus that snarls with attitude and thrashes of guitar. The lyrics see Day confront an addiction to pain and how our brains can prefer to stick with the known rather that deviate to an unknown future, even if it is potentially better: ‘I don’t want your softness...it feels like sandpaper grating on me every time’ she sings.
“The lyric ’Got me on a pedestal, I want the bottom shelf’ nicely summarises the sentiment of ‘Softness’,” Day says. “It’s a confronting truth for many, there is an inevitable discomfort in what is good for us. The chorus “I don’t want your softness...It feels like sandpaper grating on me every time” is begging, over anthem rock guitar, for more of the familiar pain and detail the treacherous route travelled by those set to break their addictions to masochism. The trail is carved by verses of calculated reservation, a chorus of brutal self-admittance, and a bridge - mournful and desperate in its surrender to our unchangeable natures.”
‘Softness’ follows on from previous singles ‘Captain Midnight’ and ‘Lilith’, forming Day’s first new music releases for over two years. All will feature on her debut album A Small Garden Of Disappointments, released on October 11, with Day saying on social media “What do you get when you mix a lifetime of small, compounding disappointments, with a painfully self-aware creative introvert who loves guitar music? My debut album!…it’s really bloody good, I think.”
First coming to prominence in 2019 with the single ‘Why is She So Beautiful’ and ‘Rabbit Hole’, Day has gone on to achieve over 1 million global streams on Spotify alone. Writing and producing all her music, she is an accomplished, self-taught musical boss, and her discography covers indie-pop, rock and punk. Held together by her raw and honest lyrics and compelling voice, Day’s combination of vulnerability and self-assured power is magnetic and her stories and melodies are always a captivating listen. A Small Garden Of Disappointment is sure to be a musical highlight of the back end of 2024.
‘Softness’ is out now via Wonderlick/Sony Music Australia. You can buy and stream here.
A Small Garden Of Disappointment will be released on October 11. You can pre-save now.
Follow Jess Day on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Image: Jeff Andersen Jnr.
