Mhaol

Praise for M(h)aol

"The band needs to be on your radar ASAP" Alternative Press

"The second full-length album from the Irish post-punks offers catharsis inspired by the concept of softness, sonically and thematically." Bandcamp

"Something Soft Refuses to let up from its scorching ferocity, showcasing M(h)aol as an out-and-out force." DIY ★★★★

"M(h)aol are simply the coolest." DORK ★★★★

"M(h)aol’s music acts like a stent in a calcifying artery, loosening the plaque and allowing new, life-bringing blood to flow." Post-Trash

 "Bracing, unsettling, and powerful." Rolling Stone

Something Soft, the second full-length album by Irish post-punk firebrands M(h)aol, is released today via Merge Records, and what they offer 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.

From the first note of its propulsive opening track to the distorted cries of its last, the record 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.

To celebrate their new album, the 3-piece release a video for '1-800-Call-Me-Back' which was made with their phones showing their daily life on Thursday 1st May in their separate cities. 

Drummer/vocalist Constance Keane says, "This track is about getting ghosted, which I personally think should be a criminal offence for anyone over the age of 25. The intro sound came from me and Sean watching the Euros and talking about football chants. I am not actually interested in football, but there’s something about international football where teams can’t buy people that I got super on board with that year. This is our football song."

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? 
M(h)aol have a 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 M(h)aol’s songs, listening to Something Soft is like jumping into a long-running chat thread, full of fury and humour. 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.

M(h)aol are performing tonight at The George Tavern, London, as well as a free show at Rough Trade East on Tuesday. At the end of the month, they'll do a string of co-headline shows with Cola and Junk Drawer in Ireland, and will support Black Country, New Road at their Olympia, Dublin, dates later in the year. Their UK headline tour will take place this September and is on-sale now.

It refuses to let up from its scorching ferocity.
Within moments of this second full-length outing from the Dublin-Belfast-London based punk outfit it becomes clear that the record is very much antithetical to its namesake. An 11-track whirling racket of off-kilter post-punk, the trio’s tirade of viscerality from debut ‘Attachment Styles’ remains, yet reveals a more urgent, pulse-shooting, clobbering cacophony.  Opener ‘Pursuit’ builds with an anxiety-inducing perpetuation; the wreathing of “I thought the shoes I’m wearing would help me run away from you” feels akin to a blazing Catherine Wheel, incessantly intensifying, all before launching into an impassioned scream. It makes for a blistering aural assault. ‘DM:AM’ sounds like a shaken-up hornet’s nest, while ‘E8 - N16’ finds a cross-section between Star Wars and early black midi. Closer ‘In Coda’, meanwhile, meanders towards gloomy goth. From the glitchy, distortion-fuelled ‘I Miss My Dog’ to the hypnotic noise of ‘You Are Temporary, The Internet Is Forever’, ‘Something Soft’ refuses to let up from its scorching ferocity, showcasing M(h)aol as an out-and-out force.

Matt Young discovers a cathartic, vital and technically impressive new EP by M(h)aol
M(h)aol have evolved with explosive clarity on Something Soft. Where Attachment Styles, their debut, was raw and revolutionary, their latest effort sharpens that edge into something more intimate and ferociously alive. The band’s chemistry is undeniable; the rhythm section of Hyland and Keane is locked in like a heartbeat, pulsing beneath vocals that flit between defiance and deadpan wit.

Brimming with intelligent and incisive lyrics, Something Soft is also sure to get heads banging.