ARTIST/LABEL NOTES:
Soap&Skin is the experimental musical project of Austrian artist Anja Plaschg.
GAJOOB Review by Bryan Baker:
Soap&Skin’s 2018 release From Gas to Solid / you are my friend is a haunting, poetic, and deeply human album. It’s the kind of record that doesn’t simply play—it inhabits the room, shifting shape as it goes. Austrian artist Anja Plaschg has always walked a tightrope between classical and electronic forms, and here she delivers what feels like her most cohesive and emotionally complex work to date.
This is a beautiful, wide-ranging collection of songs, an ever-evolving stew of experimental post-pop that feels simultaneously fragile and massive. The opening moments gently fold you into Anja’s world, only to be peeled open track by track into something grander and more daring. The instrumentation is repeatedly surprising: one moment you’re floating in a near-silent atmosphere, the next you’re caught in a swirl of strings, horns, glitchy percussion, and harmonium drones.
There’s a theatrical elegance to it all. Plaschg’s voice is a wonder—mesmerizing in its restraint, even when it erupts. Her vocals carry raw sleeve-emotion, often unguarded, always intentional. They’re not just sung, they’re inhabited, spoken from the edge of something deep and personal, even when surrounded by glimmering synths or minimalist piano.
Tracks like “Italy” and “Surrounded” feel symphonic, almost sacred, while others like “Heal” move with a slow-burning pulse. You’re never quite sure what you’re listening to—hymn, lullaby, prayer, post-industrial torch song—but you’re always certain it’s real. Even the silence between notes carries weight.
The title itself feels like a metaphor for the album’s alchemy: From Gas to Solid — the ephemeral to the grounded, intangible feelings finding form in music. And then, you are my friend — the vulnerable, human addendum. It’s not just art for art’s sake. It’s an invitation.
The album walks in poetic tension: plaintive but hopeful, melancholic but never bleak. Its edges glow. There’s so much feeling packed into its folds that one listen isn’t enough—and yet even a single pass through leaves a mark.
Soap&Skin may not have the most prolific output, but albums like this make you cherish every second. It’s a record that both demands and rewards close listening. Sublime. I wish there was more.
Listen and purchase: https://soapandskin.bandcamp.com/album/from-gas-to-solid-you-are-my-friend
Media: Digital.
Visit Soap&Skin
Bandcamp URL: https://soapandskin.bandcamp.com/album/from-gas-to-solid-you-are-my-friend
