Chelsea Jade - Soft Spot (New Vinyl LP)

Quietly, Chelsea Jade spent 2020 and 2021 skulking around other people’s projects as a dancer (Lorde), choreographer (Georgia Lines, Trace Le), graphic designer (Deafheaven), and before that, songwriter (Chainsmokers, Cxloe, and more). In tandem with these collaborations, Jade has been funneling her skills into her new album Soft Spot–adding animator, video editor, producer and engineer to her prolific creative résumé. Soft Spot’s first single “Optimist” is a calibration of these skills, passing pop through a lens tinged with R’n’B, an ongoing theme through the record. The record ventures beyond the exploration of delusions of grandeur that formed the focus of the critically acclaimed Personal Best (2018). Now, Soft Spot aims from rougher terrain. A sonic sketchbook, Chelsea’s production falls on the textural side, a panorama littered with field recordings and conversations with friends as you travel through the record.