Soft Spot (song)

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"Soft Spot skips and bites on a shuffled, stuttered beat that draws the ear in a series of funky coughs and snaps. Heavily filtered pads pulse deep in the ambient, sunken deep into reverb, providing harmonic resonance throughout. A vox sample erupting into dub-style delay, scattered feedback cranks into the production; the bass line shifting and working the grind, holding a heavy dancehall groove."

—Freshonthenet.co.uk review [20]

"Soft Spot" spent a week on the UK Independent Singles Breakers Chart, at No. 20. [21] Pigeons & Planes described it as "infectious", [22] while DIY described it as "effortlessly catchy", [23] The Guardian described it as "feathery", [16] and Undergroundunderdogs.com called it "as sweet as it is addictive". [24] Charli XCX used a 24 August 2021 edition of BBC Radio 1's Future Sounds to air it [25] and noted that "it goes so hard" and that she "sometimes ... run[s] to [it] at the gym", [15] while Tom Robinson's blog Freshonthenet.co.uk noted that it "dares you not to dance". [20] Reviewing subsequent single "Beachin", Dan Cairns of The Sunday Times noted that the song's "mix of skittering drum’n’bass and nostalgia-infused pop immediacy" stuck "like glue". [26]

A May 2022 NME article described it as "right up there with PinkPantheress and, er, sea shanties as one of [ TikTok]’s biggest hits", [27] while a 25 July 2022 Rolling Stone listicle called it a "twee starburst of liquid drum-and-bass" and named it as the fifty-ninth greatest dance song of all time [8] and a DORK article published the same day noted that its "genuine naivety and optimism ... prove[d] to be just the icing on the cake of future hits". [28] In March 2023, Wet Leg named it one of five songs that had soundtracked their year, and the band's Rhian Teasdale noted that it took them back to when they were shooting their video for "Ur Mum", in which Villiers played the anti-hero. [29]

Piri's voice came in for particular praise, with Pitchfork describing her voice as "light and hazy" and "skim[ming] over the fast-paced melody in the verses in a way that resembles Ariana Grande", and particularly enjoying the way she "sigh[ed]" the "I can't help it ... you're in my Soft Spot" chorus, [15] while Freshonthenet.co.uk noted that "Piri's voice dances in compelling vocal stack[, with] echoes cascading left/right, creating depth and ear candy", and noted that her "pop-sweet topline teas[ed] and contrast[ed] against the weight of the production". [20]

Later reviews complimented the song's percussion, with a November 2022 The Guardian review finding that "in its live incarnation at least, the breaks on big hit Soft Spot [we]re surprisingly tough", [30] while a Gigwise review of a Scala performance later that month noted that their performance of "Soft Spot" "end[ed] with a genuinely incredible breakbeat that [the reviewer] wish[ed] went on for way longer than it did". [31]

Music videos and other media

A music video was released on 4 June 2021, which features Piri singing, dancing, and pole dancing; [32] she used a 27 October 2021 Reform Radio interview to note that she had bought a projector especially for the occasion, that she filmed herself performing against the bedroom wall of the student house she was living in at the time and to "trippy liquid visuals" she had found on YouTube, and that she had edited the video herself. [1] On 27 October 2022, they performed a live acoustic version on Reform Radio, [1] and on 13 January 2022, they released a video to YouTube of them performing an acoustic version of the song. [33] The song was played on Sunday Brunch on 21 November 2021, [34] and on 21 October 2022, the song appeared on Piri & Tommy's mixtape, froge.mp3. [5] On 12 January 2023, Piri & Tommy performed the song on Radio 1's Sound Of..., [35] and on 27 May 2023, Piri performed the song at Radio 1 Big Weekend. [36]

Track listing

Digital single [5]

  1. "Soft Spot" (Piri) – 3:39

MJ Cole remix [5]

  1. "Soft Spot" (MJ Cole remix) – 3:51
  2. "Soft Spot" (Piri & Tommy Villiers) – 3:43

Personnel and credits

Recording locations

Personnel

Charts

"Soft Spot"
Single by Piri
from the album Froge.mp3
Released4 June 2021
Genre Liquid drum and bass
Length
  • 3:39 (original)
  • 3:43 (subsequent)
  • 3:51 (MJ Cole remix)
Label DistroKid
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Tommy Villiers
Piri singles chronology
"It's a Match"
(2021)		"Soft Spot"
(2021)		"OMG I Rly Like U (Remix)"
(2022)
Piri & Tommy Villierssingles chronology
"Soft Spot"
(2021)		"Beachin"
(2022)
Chart performance for "Soft Spot"
Chart (2021)Peak
position
UK Independent Singles Breakers Chart [21] 20

Release history

Release history for "Soft Spot"
RegionDateFormatVersionArtistLabelRef.
Various4 June 2021Original version Piri DistroKid [5]
13 September 2021Re-releasePiri & Tommy Villiers EMI [17]
15 October 2021MJ Cole remix [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "The Daisy Adams Show w/ Piri and Tommy Villiers 27th October 2021". Reform Radio. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Helm, Jake. "Piri and Tommy: meet the rising stars of pop". The Times . Archived from the original on 8 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 MistaJam. 8 June 2022. Capital Dance.
  4. ↑ "Radio 1's Dance Party with Danny Howard, MK & Paul Woolford Hottest Record". BBC Radio 1 . Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "piri Singles and EPs discography". Spotify. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "it's a match by piri, Tommy Villiers". DistroKid. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  7. ↑ "soft spot by piri, Tommy Villiers". DistroKid. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  8. 1 2 "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  9. 1 2 Poole, Cameron. "DIY dance duo, piri & Tommy Villiers, are the new kids on the block". 1883. Archived from the original on 17 November 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  10. 1 2 "Apple Music Home Session: piri & tommy by piri & tommy on Apple Music". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 1 March 2023. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
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  12. 1 2 3 "Piri and Tommy Villiers: ambition and reinvention from vibrant drum 'n' bass duo". NME . December 2021. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Piri & Tommy Interview: 'Soft Spot' and Tik Tok Strategy! Interview W/ Jasper Hopkins". Unity Radio. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  14. ↑ "Miz w/ Piri & Tommy Villiers". Reprezent Radio. Archived from the original on 23 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  15. 1 2 3 4 "The Zoomer Embrace of Drum 'n' Bass". Pitchfork. 29 October 2021. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  16. 1 2 3 Petridis, Alexis (22 April 2022). "'It's just good energy!' How TikTok and Covid made drum'n'bass hot again". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  17. 1 2 "piri, Tommy Villiers - Soft Spot Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  18. 1 2 3 piri & tommy (21 October 2022). froge.mp3 (Media notes). Polydor Records.
  19. ↑ "piri & Tommy Reveal "Amicable" Break-Up". Clash. 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  20. 1 2 3 "Fresh Faves: Batch 408". Freshonthenet.co.uk. 8 June 2021. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  21. 1 2 "PIRI/TOMMY VILLIERS". The Official Charts Company . Archived from the original on 28 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  22. ↑ "Best New Artists of the Month (Pigeons & Planes, November 2021)". Complex. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  23. ↑ "Hype List 2023: piri & tommy: "You've just got to take one thing at a time"". DORK. 30 November 2022. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
  24. ↑ "The 10 Songs You Need To Hear This Week". Undergroundunderdogs.com. 13 July 2021. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  25. ↑ "Radio 1's Future Sounds with Clara Amfo, with Charli XCX". BBC Radio 1. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
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  28. ↑ "Fontaines D.C. set down a marker for their headline potential on the final day of Latitude 2022". Dork. 25 July 2022. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  29. ↑ "Awards, Harry Styles, and 'hand dick': the songs that scored Wet Leg's wild year". Abc.net.au. 3 March 2023. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
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  34. ↑ 21 November 2021. Sunday Brunch. Channel 4.
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  36. ↑ "BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend, Live in Dundee: 2023, piri". BBC Radio 1. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
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