The Softies, the indie-pop duo of Rose Melberg and Jen Sbragia who helped define the Pacific Northwest twee scene in the 1990s, are back. They’re releasing their first new album in 24 years, The Bed I Made, on August 23 via Father/Daughter. Lead single “I Said What I Said” comes with a lush music video directed by Alicia J. Rose in which Melberg and Sbragia perform the song in the middle of the woods on a sunny day. Check it out below.
“Over the course of our 30 year friendship, there were bound to be experiences that would befall us both, sometimes at the same time, sometimes years apart,” the duo said of the new song in a joint statement. “‘I Said What I Said’ is a song that encapsulates a shared desire for escape, a push towards forward momentum, and unapologetic self-forgiveness for not always being able to speak the truth.”
Melberg and Sbragia started writing songs together again after both lost their mothers within two months of each other. After performing a few shows as the Softies in 2022, they began recording what would become The Bed I Made at Anacortes, Washington, studio the Unknown. The follow-up to 2000’s Holiday in Rhode Island is the band’s fourth full-length LP.
At the end of this summer, the Softies will head out on tour in support of their new album. The duo will perform in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 27 and then fly back to North America for shows along the coasts, stopping in Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C., among other cities. Find their complete list of tour dates below.
Read about the Softies’ debut, It’s Love, in “The 25 Best Indie Pop Albums of the ’90s” and “The 50 Best Indie Rock Albums of the Pacific Northwest.”
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The Bed I Made:
01 Go Back in Time
02 I Said What I Said
03 To You From Me
04 Tiny Flame
05 When I Started Loving You
06 Just Someone
07 California Highway 99
08 Dial Tone
09 The Bed I Made
10 23rd Birthday
11 Sigh Sigh Sigh
12 Headphones
13 Foot Path
14 Don’t Fall Apart
The Softies:
07-27 Glasgow, Scotland – Glas-Goes Pop
08-23 Vancouver, British Columbia – Fox Cabaret
08-24 Portland, OR – Polaris Hall
09-06 Seattle, WA – Fremont Abbey Arts Center
09-07 Anacortes, WA – Unknown
09-29 Providence, RI – AS220
09-30 Boston, MA – Crystal Ballroom
10-02 Brooklyn, NY – Public Records
10-03 Philadelphia, PA – PhilaMOCA
10-04 Washington, D.C. – Songbyrd Music House
10-24 Sacramento, CA – The Starlet Room at Harlow’s
10-25 San Francisco, CA – Bottom of the Hill
10-28 Long Beach, CA – Vine
10-29 Los Angeles, CA – Scribble
10-30 Santa Cruz, CA – SubRosa
