Softcult

### Genres

Grunge • Alternative rock • Shoegaze • lo-fi • riot grrrl • pop rock • dream pop

## Links

### Social Media

Instagram • Twitter • Facebook • TikTok • Discord

### Music

Spotify • YouTube • SoundCloud

***Softcult*** is a Canadian alternative rock band from Kitchener, Ontario. The band was formed in 2020 by twins Mercedes Arn-Horn and Phoenix Arn-Horn. The duo are known for their melding of grunge with shoegaze, as well as their DIY and riot grrrl-inspired ethics. The band's most recent EP, ***See You in the Dark***, was released on March 24, 2023.

## Career

### Formation and *Year Of The Rat* (2020-2021)

In 2017, *Courage My Love* released their second studio album, *Synesthesia*. After the album's release, twin siblings Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn found themselves at crossroads their record label over the band's creative direction. The Arn-Horn siblings spent the remaining years of *Courage My Love'*s existence writing hundreds of songs to appease their label. This ultimately proved to be fruitless and discouraging. During summer 2020, the Arn-Horn siblings decided to pursue a new project where they were free to pursue whatever direction that they wanted. They started recording the first ***Softcult*** EP ***Year Of The Rat*** after the final *Courage My Love* show in March 2020. ***Year of the Rat*** was released under Easy Life Records in April 2021, and received generally favourable reviews from critics.

In an interview to *A1234*, Mercedes gave a resumed explanation to the band's name: "[...] The idea of ‘Soft Cult’ is questioning institutions that have been around for a long time, like the Government, the average family or Religion or whatever it is. Long story short, don’t do something just because someone is telling you to, you should question everything and make sure that it sits well with you. Is it ethical in your morals?"

### World tours and *Year Of The Snake* (2022)

The band released their second EP ***Year Of The Snake*** in February 2022. The band got considerably more attention after the release of ***Year Of The Snake***, with artists such as Hayley Williams of Paramore and Oliver Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon talking publicly about the band. The band said that they would be working on a new album soon after, as well as covers and live shows. "Gaslight" also managed to chart in the CBC Music Top 20 in Canada. At the same time, the band also made their first feature on a song, being it HONEY by the singer Luna Aura.

***Softcult*** started doing live performances after the strict Covid-19 lockdowns. They started off with studio live performances such as Indie88 and CBC music, and a concert broadcast from their home. Later this year, they did a North American tour with Teenage Wrist, a UK tour with Spyres and a tour of South East Asia. This included shows in Bangkok, Toronto and London. During the May tour, the band released two cover songs (Been A Son and Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle, both by Nirvana).

After the promotion of ***Year Of The Snake*** ended in late 2022, the band started releasing the next EP's singles, music videos and recorded more live sessions at BBC radio. The band also released the Zodiac EPs collection, a combination of their previous EPs in vinyl format. They played a special stripped down set to celebrate the release. They also played as a support act to Bartees Strange in Toronto. ***Softcult*** reached 4.9 million streams and one million listeners in total in Spotify by the end of 2022.

### *See You In The Dark* (2023-Present)

***Softcult*** released their third EP ***See You In The Dark*** in 2023. To promote the EP, the band did a tour in southest Asia and Japan. They supported the EP with tours in North America, the UK and Europe. In interviews, the twins said that after the tour is over, they will be back in the studio working on their next project, with predictions of being released next year.

In June, the band appeared as a feature on the song Still Love by the band Teenage Wrist, which they played on concerts before. Currently, in 2023's summer, the band is working on studio recording their next EP, and said to the fans that they could expect new recording updates via the band's Instagram.

## SCripture

*Main Article: SCripture*

> What is a Soft Cult?
>
>
> Most If not all of us have been willing participants in a soft cult.
> When we think of cult leaders we often picture sinister figures like Jim Jones, Charles Manson, or Marshall Applewhite.
>
>
>
> What doesn't come to mind as often are the practices or systems we accept as "normal".
>
> SCripture Zine Vol.1

SCripture is ***Softcult'***s virtual magazine. They use it as a method to talk about current events and the band's future projects, and as a way of connecting to their fans. Phoenix does most of the visual art for the zine, and Mercedes does most of the writing. Mercedes has said that the main goal of SCripture is "to have a creative outlook but also to showcase local artists and activists whilst making a community around a message, which is not something you see that often anymore". They encourage their readers to submit their arts into the zine to be showcased.

## Musical Style and Influences

Citing Bikini Kill as a major influence, the band takes the ethos of the riot grrrl movement and mixes it with shoegaze, grunge, and dreampop. Hayley Williams, Bratmobile, Kathleen Hanna, Shirley Manson, Laura Jane Grace, Nicole Hughes, Wata and Pussy Riot were also cited as formative influences. Their music addresses topics of accountability, abuse, assault, harassment, misogyny, social and gender norms, environmental issues and mental health.

The band takes a lot of inspiration from pop culture when writing their songs and recording their music videos. The twins are fans of Junji Ito, who inspired SCripture's art style and the song "Uzumaki". The acclaimed cult anime movie *Perfect Blue* inspired the song of the same name.

## Discography

### EPs

* Label: Easy Life
 Year Of The Snake | * Released: February 1, 2022
* Label: Easy Life
 See You In The Dark | * Released: March 24, 2023
* Label: Easy Life
* Format: CD, CS, DD

### Compilation albums

* Label: Easy Life
* Format: LP

## Media

Softcult, Year of the Rat promotional photoshoot. 2021Softcult, Year of the Snake promotional photoshoot. 2022Softcult in See You in the Dark promotional photoshoot. 2023Softcult on tour. 2023
## References

1. ↑ Phoenix uses they/them pronouns, and Mercedes uses she/they pronouns.
2. ↑ Softcult Reject a Sexist Industry and Sharpen Their Songcraft - Exclaim interview
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Artist Interview: Softcult | The Alternative
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Q&A: Softcult | A1234
5. ↑ SOFTCULT – ‘YEAR OF THE RAT’ | Punktastic
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Hayley Williams cites Softcult in her podcast with BBC, everything is emo
7. ↑ “Softcult, too, I've listened to their Spit It Out song on repeat. I listen to it once a day at the moment. I don't know much about them, but I've been listening to that. I’ve really liked every song of theirs that I’ve got.
8. ↑ What was That? Radio | Nov 5, 2021, no links
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/CBCMusic/status/1484209477981200392
10. ↑ Perfect Blue and Gaslight
11. ↑ Full set
12. ↑ Retrieved by a fan
13. ↑ Facebook post by Teenage Wrist
14. ↑ Softcult tweet
15. ↑ Eventpop page
16. ↑ Setlist page
17. ↑ Instagram post
18. ↑ Instagram post. The show was postponed.
19. ↑ Instagram post
20. ↑ Southest Asia 2023
21. ↑ Japan 2023
22. ↑ UK & EU 2023
23. ↑ Softcult Interview: Phoenix Arn-Horne Discusses Love, Rights, New Music, Touring, and Beyond | V13
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Softcult: “Don’t try and be what someone tells you to be” | Gay Times
25. ↑ Women of Rock: SOFTCULT Dish on Their Fave Female Musical Inspirations | V13
26. ↑ Get To Know... Softcult | DIY
27. ↑ INTERVIEW: Softcult | noisescape