Exeter trio Soot Sprite will release their debut album ‘Wield Your Hope Like a Weapon’ via Specialist Subject Records on 16 May, 2025. Elise Cook (lead vocals/guitar) says the album is ‘about embracing empathy over apathy, despite the constant stream of worldly horrors. If we have empathy we can have hope, and with hope then change is always possible.’
‘Days After Days’ opens the album in atmospheric style, effect-laden guitars contributing a shoegazey dream pop sound that has Elise’s vocals – and call to arms amidst lessons, feelings and a ship sinking – at the forefront: ‘If we uplift each other, we could go so far’. This is swiftly followed by the aptly titled ‘All My Friends are Depressed’, a Britpop-esque song that captures the feelings of an entire generation or two when faced with a world that just seems to bring an onslaught of negativity: ‘All my friends under duress, waiting for whatever’s next’; ‘All my friends are mess, scrambling for security’.
There’s a touch of The Reds, Pinks & Purples melancholy bittersweetness, albeit combined with Sweet Pill’s more assertive emo tendencies, on both ‘Spectator’ and ‘Doomed’, the latter also bringing relatable observations: ‘I think we might all be doomed, flowers decay before they bloom’. ‘Surprise Guilty Party’ veers into a more shoegazey space while recent single ‘Vicious Cycles’ is all about a dead-end relationship – and the impact that this can have on everyone involved: ‘At times I am frozen with fear’.
‘Great Expectations’ opens with the defiant line ‘I’m done with your bullshit’. It finds Elise letting rip at someone who has wasted her time and made her feel small in cathartic fashion, all against a soundtrack that reminded us of previous Specialist Subject signings Muncie Girls. The title track is suitably anthemic and looks ahead despite the fact we seem to be living in Hell – ‘Hope’s a weapon’ – while the closing ‘Cautious Optimist’ is more reflective: ‘I’ve spent my whole life in transient spaces, no ideas where I’ll end up’.
‘Wield Your Hope Like a Weapon’ offers a snapshot of what life in 2025 is really like, and how, despite it all, if we can remain optimistic we can affect positive change.