Softee (stage name of actress and DIY pop creator Nina Grollman, she/they) has just announced her forthcoming sophomore album, ‘Natural’ (preorder here), set to drop on May 12 via City Slang Records. But we’ve got an extra treat for you this morning, the exclusive premiere of the music video for “Come Home”, the newest track from this Brooklyn-based pop juggernaut, offering a little taste of what’s in store on the forthcoming LP.
“Come Home” was envisioned as a horror short directed by Machel Ross (who is also Softee’s fiancée) that begins as a lustful conjuring before divulging into an erotic bloodbath creatively inspired by the likes of The Craft, Jennifer’s Body, Hellraiser, the work of director Mark Romenak (specifically Nine Inch Nails’ iconic “Closer” video), and the collective work of Brooklyn performance artist God Complex, who stars in the video alongside Grollman.
Softee says, “The concept of devouring kept coming up. When lust is so powerful, it completely devours you. That’s what the song is about, and we wanted the video to reflect that in an interesting way. God Complex was in our conversation from the very beginning, because Machel (my fiancée and the director) and I are both huge fans of their drag. We landed on a concept that felt both campy and brutal: what if Softee’s lover was a demon? What if, when summoned, the demon devours her and becomes Softee? These are the images we ended up with, and it surprises me how romantic the final product ended up being.”
Watch the exclusive premiere of the “Come Home” music video right here and maybe you’ll come out on the other side with answers to some of those queries.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Grollman experienced a devastating break-up, ending her five-year relationship. The ending led immediately to an unexpected whirlwind romance with her current partner/fiancée – an emotional rebirth that reinstated her belief in true love but also taught her the value in trusting one’s instincts and going with what feels natural (hence the album title). Recorded in Berlin during the summer of 2021 with collaborator and co-producer sweetbbyj, ‘Natural’ sonically is soulful & otherworldly; lyrically it is profound & cathartic; visually it calls to mind a Renaissance painting – this is an album to be consumed as a cohesive aesthetic experience and to reimagine one’s perspective of modern pop.
Pre-release sister track “Red Light Green Light” utilizes a Squid Game sample and DIY on-the-street video to call out elitism and nepotism in modern society.
The album’s release will follow an upcoming appearance at SXSW (details to follow), and LP announce party at All Night Skate in Brooklyn on Feb 17.
