There’s no interesting “how I found this local band” story for Softcult; the sister-duo of Phoenix and Mercedes Arn-Horn are the biggest local name for shoegaze right now, though if you’re being accurate they’re from Kitchener, not Toronto (me too!) and while some of their catalog definitely checks all the genre boxes, they could just as accurately be described as grunge revivalists, though their vocals are much prettier and their hooks catchier than most contemporary flannel worshippers. What is wholly accurate is they love them some ’90s.

They’ve technically yet to release a debut full-length, but their rapid fire, EPs-only strategy has been quite effective in keeping them in the public eye and conversation. They released their debut Year Of The Rat in April 2021, with Year Of The Snake following ten months later. See You In The Dark came out last March, and it’s been the longest gap between releases with a full fourteen months between it and Heaven, which came out a few weeks ago.

Choosing a video for this post was not easy; not because there’s no standout track or because they’re all standout tracks, but because they’ve made a video for every song they’ve released. All four EPs plus their two Nirvana covers, and even their Audiotree live album was filmed, so there’s technically clips for all of those as well. What can I say? Softcult are not shy. So I’ll go with the opening track from Heaven because it’s certainly one of their dreamiest and prettiest.