‘Soft Spots’ is the second album by Adult Mom, aka the sort-of-solo project of Steph Knipe. Although they’ve brought a bunch of friends along for the fun it still feels very much like an autobiographical effort. From the album opener ‘Ephemeralness’ to the closing ‘First Day Of Spring’, Steph’s plaintive vocals accompany a largely calm and always lo-fi mix of instruments.
‘Full Screen’s opening line “Do you full screen your porn, do you think of me as you watch her crawl across the floor” is momentarily jarring, particularly if you’re new to the world of Adult Mom, but the song quickly fizzes melodically with the energy of a full band behind it. It perfectly demonstrates that Adult Mom possess some real bite, but for large parts of ‘Soft Spots’ it isn’t on show.
One example is ‘Patience’, which either meanders gently or flounders aimlessly for four minutes depending on your mood. Your opinion on which of those it is will likely colour your overall feeling towards ‘Soft Spots’ as it constantly switches between the sort of solo strumming you get when someone passes around an acoustic guitar at a party, and the much more exciting and fleshed-out full band moments.
Nowhere on ‘Soft Spots’ is this more keenly felt than on the differences between ‘Tenderness’ and ‘Same’. Whilst the former offers a unique and personal point of view on the role that love plays in our relationships, the latter plods along as little more than background music. However, Adult Mom do pull both contrasting elements together on ‘Drive Me Home’, as they brilliantly merge the delicacy of the more subdued songs with the melodic drive of the livelier tracks, making it a real highlight.
One area where Adult Mom can’t be faulted is in the words and phrases used to tell the stories. Despite the collaborative nature musically, the solo roots of Adult Mom are still strong and, whether directly or metaphorically, they continually show their skill as talented storytellers. You could pour over every line from ‘Steal The Lake From The Water’ and the way that they feel like they relate to you directly is impressive. It just makes it more of a shame that for all the honesty and emotional vulnerability, ‘Soft Spots’ doesn’t deliver the music the lyrics deserve.
CHRIS HILSON