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Soft Will Image
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 18 Ratings

  • Summary: Producer Chris Coady returns for the third release for the Chicago indie rock trio.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 28
  2. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. Magnet
    Jun 18, 2013
    90
    Three cheers aren't enough. [No.99, p.59]
  2. 80
    There’s a lot to love about music that’s as head over heels in love with youth as Soft Will is.
  3. Jul 8, 2013
    80
    Soft Will is the perfect summer record, hazy and ill-defined and hard to remember but oh-so-euphoric.
  4. Jun 24, 2013
    70
    Soft Will marks a further refinement of Smith Westerns’ sound, resulting in one of the year’s most straightforwardly enjoyable indie-rock records.
  5. Oct 4, 2013
    67
    Soft Will, a polished, richly layered trip, even if it never fully arrives.
  6. Jul 10, 2013
    60
    It's a lovely place that Soft Will fashions here, but it sounds hesitant about pulling you in, perhaps because its creators are secretly concerned that you'll realize you aren't really going anywhere.
  7. Jun 24, 2013
    40
    All of the delicate, precious tom buildups that segue into invariably lofty choruses, all laced with the same pining slide guitars, overlay the record with a strummy, mid-tempo delirium that sets in once the considerable swagger of the first three tracks wears off.

See all 28 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Aug 22, 2014
    10
    The sophomore album of Smith Westerns is yet another reason to keep an eye on this musical act. 'Idol', '3 AM Spiritual', 'Varsity', andThe sophomore album of Smith Westerns is yet another reason to keep an eye on this musical act. 'Idol', '3 AM Spiritual', 'Varsity', and 'White Oath' number among some of the most creative things I've ever heard. It may not be as groundbreaking as 'Dye it Blonde' was, but it is certainly worth a close listen. Collapse