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Critic Reviews
83
Ultimately Soft Will is Smith Westerns’ contemplative love letter to their past, laden as much with affection as it is with melancholy.
12y
80
With Soft Will, they should gain back some people who like thoughtful, melodically rich indie rock that isn't sleepy or clichéd or boring. This album is none of those things and, thanks to their actual growth as artists, it may be their best yet.
12y
80
It wholeheartedly succeeds, and it’s pure nostalgia.
12y
80
‘Soft Will’ marks Smith Westerns moving into another realm of quality and experimentation, and, to put it quite simply, this album is just a complete pleasure to listen to.
12y
80
One chorus may be enough, but ‘Soft Will’ is studded with so much more.
13y
80
Soft Will is certainly not as immediately infectious as Smith Westerns’ previous outings, but that does not make it a weaker album. There are still many injections of fun in the wordless gang vocals and theatrical guitar solos.
12y
80
On Soft Will, the travails of being young pass through a lens that refracts them into something equal parts analytical and wistful.
12y
80
They're full of uncluttered and focused optimism, and that shows in their freshly exfoliated music - there are pop hooks galore, twinkling astral riffs and effervescent beats.
12y
79
Smith Westerns aren’t interested in changing up their formula, they’ve merely found a way to utilize it more thoughtfully.
13y
70
As a closing chapter to the early days of Smith Westerns' careers, Soft Will is an excellent record - there is just a lingering feeling that their unique sense of fun and abandon, is all but over
12y
70
For all its faults, the heart and maturity at the centre of Soft Will feels more vital and important than their showy genre tourism ever did.
13y
70
Soft Will won’t enter the annals as album of the decade, but it showcases the tools and talent to make it happen one day.
12y
70
It’s unlikely that the demise of the younger, brattier version of Smith Westerns will be mourned by anyone who comes into contact with this lovely record.
12y
64
Even if this sudden maturity results in deeper sounds, it doesn’t always result in deeper songs.
12y
60
They don’t sound like teenagers anymore on Soft Will. They sound like they’ve been in the world long enough to get broken by it.
13y
60
Soft Will, like previous Smith Western albums, still brims with hooks but it never quite resolves if it’s still just good-time summer pop, dark-night-of-the-soul rumination or some sort of Summerteeth-esque middle ground.
12y
50
The tempered songs of Soft Will, however, don’t feel thoughtfully restrained as much as deflated of enthusiasm.
12y
40
The album’s stubborn insistence on mourning something that it never really grasped in the first place makes more complex what would otherwise be a boring affair.
12y
I fucking loved this! Aesthetically borrowing from 60's and 70's psych, 90's dream, and 00's and 10's indie pop to come together for a spacious, endearing, and modern exploration of nostalgia in its purest and most genuine form.
I fucking loved this! Aesthetically borrowing from 60's and 70's psych, 90's dream, and 00's and 10's indie pop to come together for a spacious, endearing, and modern exploration of nostalgia in its purest and most genuine form.
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Track List
| 1 | 3am Spiritual 4:23 | |
| 2 | Idol 4:14 | |
| 3 | Glossed 3:06 | |
| 4 | XXIII 4:28 | |
| 5 | Fool Proof 4:26 | |
| 6 | White Oath 4:03 | |
| 7 | Only Natural 3:49 | |
| 8 | Best Friend 3:48 | |
| 9 | Cheer Up 2:45 | |
| 10 | Varsity 4:00 |
Total Length: 39 minutes
