Feldspar - Soft Side (Stage Dive Records) 
Release Date: 9th October 2026
I don't get sent a lot of music from Italy but when I do the quality levels are always high - like their national food, quality over quantity. Italian collective Feldspar have impressed with recent single so I was excited to get their new album in my inbox and 'Soft Side' doesn't disappoint. Former single 'Heart Is A Ghetto' gets things going with an energetic pop-punk vibe and the mix of sweet verse vocals and gruff chorus opener, showing off the band's versatility immediately. The eight-piece then burst into 'Good Kids' with a similar intensity and a sound that is somewhere between Beach Riot, Paramore, and System of a Down which is an interesting space to inhabit. The fade-in of 'Family Man' gets the hairs up on the back of your neck and then the guitars drag you into the zone where pop and hardcore collide with melodies and power working you over like a wrestling tag team.
Title track 'Soft Side' takes me back to days of bouncing around to A and the Ataris while 'Sweating On' features the kind of beat that has you worrying for the drummer's stamina whilst being soothed by the vocals of Gwen Mowat. 'Unsober' has a West Coast slacker vibe (see Weezer or Lit) that will have crowds bouncing along before 'Slow Down' goes rock'n'roll on us with an Everclear meets Crazy Arm sound that hits you like a wall of sound. Similarly, 'Aberdeen' chops and lunges like a late 90s indie-rock anthem until penultimate song 'Iron and Velcro' takes the intensity down a touch for the sweeping and swooning sound that makes this my pick of the record.
We close out on 'Growing Concern', probably the most radio friendly track that has hints of Biffy Clyro and shows off a band that are ready for stadium stages but are stadiums ready for them. The sheer energy, passion and power of this album would be enough to impress me but through in the melodies, musicianship and eclecticism and, well, buy me a t-shirt, I'm a fan.
More information: https://www.instagram.com/feldsparhc/