Softcult's long-awaited debut album, When A Flower Doesn't Grow

SOFTCULT RELEASE THEIR  LONG-AWAITED DEBUT ALBUM,  WHEN A FLOWER DOESN'T GROW CLICK HERE TO LISTEN OUT TODAY VIA EASY LIFE RECORDS WATCH THE NEW VIDEO FOR "NOT SORRY" TOURING THE U.S. THIS SPRING WITH LIGHTS

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1) Intro 2) Pill To Swallow 3) Naive 4) 16/25 5) She Said, He Said 6) Hurt Me 7) I Held You Like Glass 8) Queen Of Nothing 9) Tired! 10) Not Sorry 11) When A Flower Doesn’t Grow

At their core, Softcult is a band with something to say—and today, their conviction cements with the release of their bold and long-awaited full-length debut, When A Flower Doesn't Grow. The Ontario-based twins Mercedes (she/her) and Phoenix (they/them) Arn-Horn step fully into their own here, delivering a vulnerable record that feels both deeply personal and unapologetically confrontational.  When A Flower Doesn't Grow is a self-produced, self-recorded, and fiercely independent collection of songs that detail trauma to rebirth and transformation. Its title comes from a quote by Dutch author, Alexander Den Heijer: "when a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”

SOFTCULT - ‘Not Sorry’ (Official Music Video)

To coincide with the album release the band has also shared the official video for their defiant new single, "Not Sorry." Speaking of the new single, vocalist Mercedes Arn-Horn shares: “Not sorry is about not allowing the hateful ignorance of others to affect our self-esteem. Patriarchal society can be extremely cruel to cultural, racial, sexual and gender minorities. Most of this vitriol stems from ignorance and weaponised misinformation. Certain political organizations promote hateful rhetoric when they see minority groups as a threat to their grasp on power. Hate speech is a tactic used to silence the groups that it targets, and it’s important to not only combat it by speaking out with counter-speech so that hate is not the only narrative, but also to protect the mental health of those affected, including ourselves.” She continues: “This song is about recognizing that while education can solve hateful ignorance, it is not our responsibility to educate every hateful person we encounter. We owe it to ourselves, and to democracy, to protect our peace and well-being. We can’t allow shame, insecurity, fear, or any other psychological effects of hate to silence us. We have nothing to apologize for when our mere existence triggers enraged and ignorant people.”

Photo: Kaylene Widdoes

For Mercedes, those words hit during one of the most pivotal moments of her life: ending a nine-year relationship, coming out as queer, and confronting the cycles of oppression she had been internalizing for years, despite being so outspoken about empowerment. “The person I portrayed myself to be on stage was not the same person making the decisions that governed my life,” she explains. “I was root bound. I was disappearing, shrinking, withering away… and I felt ashamed of it." As a result, this album is a conceptual work about the various stages of one’s own internal metamorphosis; written from the perspective of someone who has been radicalized by trauma, empowered by their own resilience, and who ultimately healed and blossomed into the person they were always meant to be.

Musically, Softcult continue to expand their rich blend of grunge, shoegaze, and alt-rock textures, weaving fuzz-laden riffs and dreamy soundscapes with raw, confessional lyricism. The result is both intimate and universal: a record for anyone who has ever felt trapped or diminished by their surroundings, and a rallying cry to nurture ourselves and each other in the pursuit of freedom and authenticity. The album follows last year’s acclaimed Heaven EP, which flipped the concept of an afterlife on its head, critiquing a culture fixated on the future while ignoring the urgent need for change in the present. That release saw the duo land the cover of Spotify’s MARROW playlist (over 4.7 million followers) and embark on tours across North America, the UK, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Along the way they’ve won fans in artists like Hayley Williams and Bring The Horizon’s Oli Sykes, opened for Incubus and MUSE, and earned praise from outlets including Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, Paste, Consequence, Alternative Press, Kerrang!, CBC, The Gay Times and more. Born in the studio and committed to carving out their own universe, Softcult embody a fiercely DIY ethos. Phoenix handles production, engineering, and artwork, while Mercedes writes, produces, directs, and edits their deeply personal and impactful videos. Together they create and distribute a monthly zine, SCripture, and remain deeply engaged with their community through the Softcult Discord server. Their music and message are constant reminders that the revolution is very much alive - proof that true liberation begins when we change the environment and allow ourselves, and each other, to grow.