Originally founded as duo by its founding members Sarah Kinlaw and Bryan Keller, Jr., SOFTSPOT has evolved over the years into a quartet of friends with a long history of collaboration and creativity. Blake Bateh (drums) was recruited to join the band during the writing and recording of last year’s MASS, while Jonathan Campolo (synths) was recruited to flesh out the band’s live sound during the tour to support MASS.

Clearing, the quartet’s forthcoming full-length album, slated for release later this year will mark the band’s first full-length effort as a quartet as the material reportedly focuses on themes of exposition and openness as a means for connection and progression.

As the band explains in press notes, the forthcoming album’s first single “Abalone” stems from a desire for solitude and stillness and a tension between that desire and the urge for outside connection — and as a result, the single is a tense yet spectral song comprised of persistent drumming paired with syncopated bass chords, shimmering guitar chords, twinkling synth chords reminiscent of The Buggles‘ “Video Killed the Radio Star,” swirling electronics and Kinlaw’s lilting and ethereal vocals floating over the tense instrumentation to craft a song that feels like a feverish dream before it dissipates like smoke into the ether.