Art School Girlfriend embarks on a voyage of rediscovery

Though she released her first record two years prior, the Welsh producer and multi-instrumentalist has already expressed a distinct feeling of detachment to those tracks, instead naming Soft Landing as a record that “truly feels like my debut”. Instead, she leans into the electronic explorations of earlier projects, and in turn, creates an intricate world of textures for the listener to feast upon.

Soft Landing is a product of two halves, a culmination of the interior world of Mackey’s solitary creativity at home and the formal collaboration of recording studios based in Crouch End. As a result, it seamlessly balances explorations in both expansive sound and intimate lyrics, evidenced on the track that started it all, "A Place To Live". An exercise in creative production, it’s also remarkably deceptive – components that appear on the surface as electronic transpire to be a product of live recordings, creating a tangible depth to its sonics.

Mackey further displays her progression on album highlight, "How Do You Do It". Though entirely improvised in the four walls of Mackey’s bedroom, it’s imbued with the feeling of infinite space, full of sweeping soundscapes and echoing vocals that stretch for miles. Other notable excursions include the 80s drum-machines and eerie distortion on "Heaven Hanging Low", and "Waves" with its shoegazing guitars that gently shimmer on the surface.

Upon reaching its final stretch, the distinction between tracks begins to blur, overlapping over one another. This doesn’t appear to be a fault of its repetitive nature, but rather a purposefully immersive twist, producing a soundtrack to a night-out that seemingly never ends. And soon enough, reality begins to split at the seams and Mackey has transported us to a surreal world entirely unfamiliar, as she sings, “Sliding through paradise / I was caught in the light / Pulling planets out of the sky / taking a bite.”

However, the record doesn’t anticipate a crash back down to earth but offers slow descent, just as the title suggests. Mirroring the realisations made in her own life, Mackey asks us to find these moments of other-worldly ecstasy in our everyday existence, noting that “I just want someone out there to find their personal euphorias with it.” For Mackey, these arrive in the simplest of moments; “Lying beside the person you love, watching the sun come in, can be it.” And instead of striving towards a perceived notion of happiness, Soft Landing is simply the crescendoing finale of a journey towards contentment