Soft Pink Truth was originally an outlet for Matmos’s Drew Daniel to explore his house music influences, but gradually it evolved into a very strange cover band. On previous albums, he reinterpreted classic hardcore punk songs as dance tracks and inserted a queer subtext into black metal ones. On Why Pay More?, he revisits an abandoned side project he’d once called Soft Pink Tube, in which he works with samples ripped from YouTube videos. Compared to previous outings, it’s less conceptually heavy but also more overtly joyful and danceable.
Even when he’s playfully flipping viral video dialogue into club tracks, there’s still something wonky and dark going on. Only half the songs are YouTube-derived. The rest are unreleased tracks written during the same period that share a similar production feel. The micro-house sampling techniques sometimes sound very mid-00s, but the rawness of the beats has more in common with the Chicago footwork and juke sounds that have become popular in recent years. It’s refreshing to hear experimental dance music maintain such a strong sense of humour and fun.
Top track: Fire Island Of The Mind
