M(h)aol – Something Soft

Label: Merge
Released: 16th May 2025

M(h)aol are simply very cool. Telling stories the only way they know how, with a good helping of tongue-in-cheek existentialism, their ironically named new record ‘Something Soft’ continues their no-holds-barred look at modern life in all its stop-start-tightrope-walking glory. 

The terror of opener ‘Pursuit’, a narrative told by increasingly frantic vocal and driving post-punk, swirls into shoegaze reminiscence in ‘I Miss My Dog’ before ‘You Are Temporary, The Internet Is Forever’ teeters on the edge of ripping apart and all hell breaking loose, hooking you in before you even realise you’ve been caught.

Their use of electronica, of white noise-adjacent rumbling and haunting vocal replays, for example, in ‘Vin Diesel’, brings an unfinished quality to the record that somehow makes it more realistic and endearing. The band turn up the tempo and the feeling of anxious anticipation on ‘Clementine’, another track that fades out just as the pit is about to pop off, keeping you as a puppet on a string very much in M(h) aol’s control. More melodic moments, such as ‘DM:AM’ and ‘Snare’ play at the edges of gothic post-punk, representing a band content to make their own fun in the fringes whilst not getting too out-of-reach with their ideas. Proof of this is ‘1-800-Call-Me-Back’, a punk anthem which combines their gritty, toothy use of electronics and non-conformist instrumentation whilst keeping its roots based in a good old-fashioned relationship breakdown.

‘Something Soft’ is a record with absolutely nothing soft about it. All the squishy stuff has been taken out and replaced with jagged edges and blurred lines, with scary stories told with a devilish grin. Maybe it was understated in the beginning, so let’s try again: M(h)aol are simply the coolest.