“Raw pain and bitter beauty”: Listen to SOFT PLAY’s new single, Everything And Nothing

SOFT PLAY have just released a brand-new single and video, Everything And Nothing.

The emotional new track is taken from next month’s album HEAVY JELLY, and hears the duo reflecting on the unbelievably intense and tragic journey they’ve been on these past few years.

“I started writing the words in lockdown in the depths of a mental health breakdown,” begins Isaac Holman. “My good mate Bailey had just passed away, Laurie had not long lost his partner, Emma, to cancer. It was one thing after the next. I got to the line about Bailey and couldn’t for the life of me think of what to say next, so I left it where it was.

“Three years later – last year – I went round to Laurie [Vincent]’s and he had just got this mandolin, we laid down the instrumental and I remembered I had these words in the notes on my phone. Laurie asked me what it was about and I was having trouble explaining it, then he said, ‘So it’s just like everything and nothing.’

“We demo’d the tune and took it to the studio, lyrics still unfinished. During that stint, I kept seeing people that looked like Bailey, which unlocked the next line of the tune and allowed the rest to come out.”

“These past few years have been really hard for so many people,” adds Laurie. “The song and video encapsulates the journeys we’ve all been on: loss, love, rebirth, it’s the cycle of life. Raw pain and bitter beauty.”

HEAVY JELLY is released on July 19 via BMG. SOFT PLAY play Download Festival this month – get your tickets now.

Read this: SOFT PLAY: “We need to do this together… the magic of our band is both of us”