The Soap Girls - In My Skin 
Release Date: 18th June 2022
'In My Skin' is the fourth album from notorious South African duo the Soap Girls and it is great launching off point if you have yet to have the pleasure. Opening track and recent single 'Breathe' gets straight down to business with driving drums and a chugging riff providing the power to counterbalance the melodic vocals of Mie and Millie. 'Liar' has a slightly more indie vibe channeling the likes of Lush and Echobelly while 'Demons' takes a Harley Davidson of a bass riff and builds a snarling rock monster around it with heavily effected vocals adding a sense of the otherworldly to proceedings.
The chug of 'Wasted' is tailor made for live performances as it builds in to a stadium sized anthem, 'In My Skin' is an absolute monster of a track with a chorus that would comfortably grace any rock album and 'Breakdown' adds a groove to the album that will draw you in, siren-like. "Fuck society man, they're just here to screw you" is the opening gambit of a tirade of abuse that introduces 'Medicated Bubble Bath' which sounds like a 90s grunge anthem that got lost along the way. Similarly, the urgency of 'Heart In Bloom' has a retro vibe but also feels incredibly fresh as the guitars bounce and ping with an infectious energy.
For an album of fourteen tracks there is an impressive commitment to maintaining energy levels throughout every track as evidenced by 'She Don't Wanna' and 80s inspired 'Broken Melody'. It feels like there might be some respite on the Nirvana-esque glum-rock of 'Summer Rain' but even this track explodes during the chorus with Veruca Salt levels of energy and melody. The urgency of 'Psycho' is relentless and infectious before giving way to 'Promise You' with those Echo & the Bunnymen guitars chiming through the night.
The album closes out with 'Kill Breed', clearly the heaviest track on the album and a window in the duo's metal roots. This is a superb album of rock music by two highly talented musicians with longevity and ideas throughout. Nobody ever said fourth time is a charm but this album really ought to be the one that catapults the Soap Girls on to an unsuspecting mainstream.
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