Soft Palms - Soft Palms (2020)

Soft Palms, the brainchild of wife-and-husband duo Julia Kugel
(The Coathangers, White Woods) and Scott Montoya (formerly of
The Growlers), have announced the impending release of their
self-titled debut album on July 31st via Everloving Records. The
album is a feast of rich sounds and simple, comforting melodies
threading together sock hop rock n’ roll, scrappy dream pop,
and ethereal torch songs into a sultry, spacey, and sublime
journey towards brighter horizons. The entire album gives off an
aura of intimacy while also creating a broader, pastel colored
world—a duality achieved through Montoya’s unique and meticulous
recording process at the couple’s home studio the Centre Of
Mental Arts (COMA), and the magisterial mastering job by
longtime friend and collaborator Mick Boggis (Pogues, Mötorhead,
12 Monkeys, Joe Strummer, etc.) who has served as a mentor
throughout Montoya’s recording career.

“My goal was to create something that sounded like a mental hug
a sonic embrace,” says Julia Kugel. “Everything can feel so
wild and out of control, we really wanted to create something
you could sink into and use to calm those emotions.” This is
clearly felt in the album’s first advance single “Rainbows”
where Kugel’s lilting voice floats against a backdrop of
hypnotic upbeat instrumentation and Montoya’s dubbed out studio
effects. The song comes paired with a shimmering music video
the duo shot themselves at home, evoking the same DIY spirit
that drove the album recording.

Though the album’s eight songs were written in fits and starts
over the course of nearly a decade, Soft Palms ultimately came
together over a two-year period as an extension of Kugel and
Montoya’s broader musical ventures. Together they book the Happy
Sundays music festival, run the non-profit Studios for Schools,
and organize the events calendar Long Beach POP—all in an
effort to celebrate, promote, and produce art and music through
community and positivity. In keeping with their overarching
philosophy of sustainability and waste reduction, all their
merch is made from salvaged and repurposed clothing. Several
items in their just-launched webstore are hand-dyed using
cinnamon tea, and all are hand stamped (using a homemade
stamp), making each item unique and one-of-a-kind. Soft Palms
captures Kugel and Montoya’s unflappable positivity and energy
and serves as yet another outlet for their ongoing work to make
the world a bit brighter.