SOAK, the project of Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson, has announced a new album called decembers. It is due December 4 on Rough Trade. The title track is out now, and the announcement also came with a run of tour dates in North America and Europe, according to the original report.
A follow-up to “Death Valley Fridge Magnet”
The announcement follows the June release of “Death Valley Fridge Magnet,” an acoustic ballad. That song appears second on the nine-track album. The full tracklist is “decembers,” “death valley fridge magnet,” “speed,” “woodstock,” “minus 3,” “subaru,” “backroads,” “transmitter park” and “closing down.”
The idea behind the record
Monds-Watson explained the album by pointing to Thomas Wolfe’s novel You Can’t Go Home Again. They cited a passage about how people cannot return to their family, their childhood or romantic love, or to the old systems that once seemed everlasting.
They said they spent a long time wanting to disprove that idea, and were not sure why they felt so determined. They suggested that the familiarity of the past may have felt safe. Eventually, they said, they realized this was no way to live and had to learn to lean into the rest of their life. In their words, decembers is in a way about forgiveness.
Tour dates
The touring plans begin in the United States in October 2026, with three shows supported by The Barr Brothers:
October 28 – Brattleboro, VT, The Stone Church
October 29 – New York, NY, Bowery Ballroom
October 30 – Providence, RI, The Met
In February 2027, SOAK will play a longer run across the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe:
February 5 – Newcastle, The Cluny
February 6 – Sheffield, Hallamshire Hotel
February 7 – Manchester, YES Pink Room
February 9 – Bristol, Strange Brew
February 10 – London, Bush Hall
February 11 – Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club
February 13 – Glasgow, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
February 17 – Belfast, Empire
February 18 – Dublin, Button Factory
February 19 – Limerick, Dolan’s
February 20 – Cork, St Luke’s
February 24 – Paris, Le Hasard Ludique
February 25 – Antwerp, Trix
February 26 – Amsterdam, Paradiso
February 28 – Berlin, Mikropol
Pre-orders for decembers are open now.
Source: stereogum.com
Image: Tasobi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
