Jo The Man The Music - “Soft Skin”
Photo by Ally Schober
From Austria, Johanna Gußmagg, aka Jo The Man The Music, returns to us with the crackling and crunchy sounds of “Soft Skin,” a track that “encourages us to keep opening ourselves up to the world despite all the scrapes and bruises.”
This song is unapologetically raw from the very moment that you press the pay button. Effected, gritty guitar sets the scene, with Jo’s vocal arriving across the top. Her performance maintains a distinctly authentic vibe, as each syllable hammers out the notes via natural talent– you will not find any autotune here, which seems to be more and more rare these days.
As the track progresses, auxiliary layers of vocals find their place in the arrangement, creating a rising tension that leads into the arrival of the rhythm section. Doubles and harmonies expand the sonic spread of the barebones production, with additional tracks of guitar laying down a hypnotic, supplementary melody.
After the second refrain, “Soft Skin” delivers an upbeat bridge into your ears, imbuing the song with a heaping spoonful of dynamic variation– an aspect that we often find ourselves craving, and something that always tends to set a track apart from the others in our stack of submissions.
All of this eventually culminates in a vulnerable guitar-and-vocal breakdown before the final throw of refrains, including some call-and-response vocals as the track reaches its conclusion. There’s a bit of ‘90s inspiration happening here, all while maintaining a firm grasp on pulse of modern indie.
“Soft Skin” is now available everywhere and will sit quite nicely among your playlists filled with tunes from Phoebe Bridgers, Billie Marten, Lizzy McAlpine, and/ or Holly Humberstone. Enjoy it everywhere you get your music and connect with Jo The Man The Music here: Instagram | TikTok | Spotify
-HD