Soft Riot

SOFT RIOT “CRUX” — OUT NOW! Nine new tracks available on LP/CD/Digital/Streaming on @possessionrecords and Minimalkombinat (limited edition vinyl now SOLD OUT). Buy the album or stream through top links in LINK IN BIO (Linktree). Mixed by @owenpratt / Mastered by @oticsound / Artwork by JJD #synth #darkwave #postpunk #newwave #releaseday

Video Premiere!! — “MOVING OUT OF THE BLACK” Going live along with an interview and album feature out on the UK music publication @outsideleftmagazine this week. Check the FULL video out through LINK IN BIO. ___________________ “The video for the track itself was born out of practicality, as I have also had to put in herculean amounts of time, energy and resources produce, produce and promote this album CRUX, leaving very little time for putting in a lot of hours doing big concept videos at the moment. The track is suited to the dance floor with lyrics about inspiration and love I’ve felt at events in the musical sub-cultures I’ve found myself moving around in. If anything, the work I’ve been doing lately for festival visuals, and my overall idea for this video is to be more in a style that complements the physical environment the listener may hear this track played in rather than demanding their undivided attention — perhaps making that approach the key inspiration for this.” There’s a couple of other videos in the pipeline to come out in the coming months, with ideas I’m completely excited about, using a lot of techniques “out of the box” and more in the physical world that should be very fun to do! ___________________ With CRUX can PRE-ORDER digital/physical and PRE-SAVE streaming again through the LINKS IN BIO or just check out softriot.com for the details. Thanks again to all of those involved, including @owenpratt for joining up with me to mix this album and Josh at @oticsound for the mastering magic. #videopremiere #musicvideo #synth #postpunk #darkwave

CRUX — The new album out 15 May 2026 This one has been cooking up intensely behind the scenes over the past year and a half and now is the day that nine new tracks comprising the next SOFT RIOT album called CRUX can be announced! There will be more information in the near future that outlines more details about this record. It can be said that it will be released on @possessionrecords (Digital, Digipak) and as a deluxe vinyl LP package on the label Minimalkombinat. This is the first album in about ten years where the final mixes had someone else involved, and in this case saw the sessions happen in the studios of long time friend and audio extraordinaire @owenpratt in southern France in November of this past year. If you’re keen to find out more information in the meantime, do the following: ☑️ Check out more details on softriot.com or LINK IN BIO ☑️ Sign up to the mailing list at softriot.bandcamp.com ☑️ Click that little bell in Instagram to get updates. Pre-order information to come in the very near future. 👽👍 🎹 Music segment from the fifth track on the album “Getting To Know You”. 🎚️Album mastered by Josh Stevenson at @oticsound . 🎨Artwork, design and hand-cut photo collages by me as jjdinfo.com. Stay tuned for more info! #softriot #newalbum #upcomingalbum #postpunk #electronic synth newwave darkwave ebm canadian glasgowband glagsowmusician vinyllp

CRUX | Track 05 | “Getting To Know You” With CRUX being released on Friday, it seems that everyone I know that I’ve talked to about it each has a different favourite track. The selections and the reason why are always interesting to me. If you were to ask me what my own favorite track is off the record I obviously have an attachment to them all but for some reason this track stands out to me. Perhaps it’s the fact that it sort of, um, “wrote itself”. The ideal was to have a track with minimal instrumentation with some interesting production techniques that were inspired by a few old disco/euro rarities I’d been into. A plodding feel that was menacing but fun at the same time. This track originally had a completely different bass synth line, but after having a long night of bizarre dreams, the bass line that you hear in the song drifted into my head. From there it was literally a case of getting out of bed, turning the studio on and sculpting that new one into place. It was sort of surprising, almost like magic. Lyrically the track has what has been observed as three layers. First, the title “Getting To Know You” sounds eager and positive, like wanting to get to know someone. Then, listening to the tone and the vocal delivery it might be perceived as a stalker hiding in a bush or similar. But digging into the lyrics, it’s sort of more than that — about how we voluntarily let everyone in the world know about ourselves based on what we opt (many times unknowingly) to put about ourselves into the digital realm… “getting to you know” indeed. Check out the streaming and purchase links for CRUX through LINK IN BIO. Available in LP, Digipak CD and Digital/Streaming NOW on @possessionrecords and MINIMALKOMBINAT. #newalbum #synth #darkwave #newwave #ebm

| Soft Riot — Crux The Geometry of Controlled Collapse - The latest album from Soft Riot, “Crux,” represents an innovative fusion of synthetic sounds and rhythmic tension. Built on a philosophy of restraint and repetition, this work is not just music: it’s a psychological experience that explores the boundary between groove and dissonance.With roots in punk and the underground, Soft Riot offers us a sonic journey that transcends traditional categories. Each track invites you to immerse yourself in a landscape of alienation and fractured movement. Read the full review here: /share/p/1CCuD25zCn/?mibextid=wwXIfr — SFS Inner Echo Reviews SOFT RIOT @sinistra__pr #softriot #postpunk #darkwave #minimalwave

The early ‘80s DIY synth spirit comes alive with the work of @softriot , who is back with a fresh full-length offering, ‘CRUX.’ Dive into his ever-evolving take on synthesizer post-punk, taking in elements of darkwave, new wave, post-punk, Italo, and EBM. RIYL : Bill Nelson, Fad Gadget, John Foxx, Skinny Puppy, early Human League, early Simple Minds “Jack Duckworth, the man behind Soft Riot, creates sci-fi stories through psychedelic electro wonder work, that for some might take a few listens to comprehend, but nevertheless the album embodies a bizarre inner beauty. Insofar as a musical piece, after the tenth listen you discover a still groundbreaking and innovative sound structure.” - Sonic Seducer Magazine #softriot #minimalwave #postpunk #newwave #synthmusic

Launching officially today is @subvertworld — a new cooperatively-owned digital music platform. Chipping in some funds to become a platform member resulting in putting a stake in this new platform which offers an artist-owned platform in an increasingly corporate world of digital and streaming. While BandCamp is still great despite the numerous takeovers over the years, it’s always great to support new, grassroots endeavours in an increasingly difficult “industry” for artists. Check out the LINKTREE IN BIO (under OFFICIAL LINKS) or www.subvert.fm/soft-riot

CRUX | Track 04 | “Other Futures” Coming up fourth in the album, this one probably was a result of going through a phase of listening to a lot of classic “electro” tracks, and with a number of jams just playing keyboards — one hand doing the chords and the other on a another synth doing the bass lines. Those fundamentals then shifted into the final result of this track. Not one to sit on just one idea or phrase per song, there’s a nice shift from the more melancholy feel of the verses to the chorus, which starts off sounding sinister and then breaks out into waves of major chord euphoria, like a bright and bold sun bursting through the clouds. Given the strange and often disheartening world we now currently live in, there was an attempt at some cautious optimism with the lyrics — perhaps to put a bit of a lilt in one’s step. Other futures are possible and we have the human connectivity and communities to do so. Check out the streaming and purchase links for CRUX through LINK IN BIO. Available in LP, Digipak CD and Digital/Streaming as of 16 May 2026 on @possessionrecords and MINIMALKOMBINAT. #newalbum #synth #darkwave #newwave #electro

SATURDAY, 18 JULY 2026 at @theoldhairdressers in GLASGOW: SOFT RIOT (Glasgow UK) — @softriot DER BÜROKRAT (Paris FR / Florence IT) — @derburokrat_official INVISIBLE LOGIC (Glasgow UK) — @invisiblelogic + DJ selections by DAVE NULL/VOID — @davenullvoid SYNTH • MINIMAL • COLDWAVE • ELECTRONIC POSTPUNK • DARKWAVE • EBM • NEW WAVE £10 Tix (+ fee) / More on the door 19:30 - 23:00 Tickets available through LINK IN BIO #synth #darkwave #postpunk #glasgowgigs #glasgowconcerts

CRUX | Track 03 | “A Flash And Then It’s Gone” This is probably the earliest tracks from CRUX that had its fundamental ideas come together, all around that plastic, hollow sounding bass line what was cooked up as the ballast. Then, after a calculated break from writing around a year or so, this track was picked up again with renewed focus, and rather than adding parts in a lot of parts were stripped out with a shift in the drum production that resulted in a vibe not unlike cruising some sort of low rider car through a Max Mad-style wasteland. And like most tracks from the album, the song title floated into my head before the lyrics, which ended up jotting down words about strange chance events in life that re-route individuals and collective masses of people into new directions and then those moments disappear — “A flash and then it’s gone”. Check out the streaming and purchase links for CRUX through LINK IN BIO. Available in LP, Digipak CD and Digital/Streaming as of 16 May 2026 on @possessionrecords and MINIMALKOMBINAT. #newalbum #synth #darkwave #newwave #electro

"SOFT RIOT : The Crux of the Matter" — a new interview with @alan.rider of the UK music site @outsideleftmagazine is now live! This interview — conducted as a video call — has been transcribed into the written form. You can read the entire piece through LINK IN BIO. "Having relocated from London to Sheffield, he then landed around a decade ago in Glasgow and pumped out multiple albums and singles before deciding to take a 15 month break following his last album, 'No' to re-charge creatively before recording the upcoming album, Crux, with the video for the first single off that, 'Moving Out of The Black' exclusively premiered [on our website]". Further topics discussed are the challenges of DIY and social media, the benefits of practicing, changing focus to live shows, being on/off about doing music, working on other musical projects and of course, the forthcoming album CRUX out in a couple of weeks. Speaking of CRUX, tomorrow is also #bandcampfriday so if you're looking to check out and pre-order the album, TOMORROW might be a good time to do that. Thanks again for reading and your support. 😊 #darkwave #synth #postpunk #interview #artistinsight

A photo here from the early days of SOFT RIOT, this one taken at The Horatia in London in November 2011. Back then the live set-up consisted of a lot of analogue beast synthesizers with sequenced lights as I was figuring out the translation from playing in bands to wrangling multiple synthesizers live on my own. It was a learning process and when SOFT RIOT became my main project in the year or two to follow, the live set-up was made more compact, experimented with and honed into what it is today. Travelling with all of that equipment back in the day was indeed a bit of challenge. I haven’t been playing live as much over the last year so but with the release of the new album CRUX on the horizon I aim to focus on playing out more in the coming year or two, despite the increasingly unstable world we live in. Overall I love the social aspects of music — meeting new people, connecting with community and sharing the music live and in the same room as those music fans attending. CRUX is out next month — details through LINK IN BIO. 📸 Greg Allan #synth #electronic #london #archive