Deep Dive: Soot Sprite – All My Friends Are Depressed

Ahead of the release of their Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon LP in May, Exeter’s Soot Sprite have dropped the unexpectedly uplifting All My Friends Are Depressed.

Band member Elise Cook has brought us under the song’s skin as part of our ongoing Deep Dive series. If you like Desperate Journalist and Pale Blue Eyes, you won’t go amiss pre-saving or pre-ordering the album.

Genesis of the song and lyrics

I wrote this song at home, unplugged like most everything else. I love working off a one-liner, and coming out the gate with that “All my friends are depressed” line, the rest just flowed out within a sort of half-hour session of writing. Those are always the songs that I feel the most confident with.

Instrumentation and recording

Even when writing this unplugged in my living room, I knew it needed to be really punchy and loud. I took it to Sam our drummer, and we made a demo at his house, and it came together so quickly and clearly from there. It was definitely one of the easier arrangements to put together. When we finally got around to the studio, it all clicked into place, it was the first time we’d heard Abi play the lead she had written for it, and I remember looking at each other like “Oh, THIS is it.”.

Where does it fit within your wider body of work?

I think sonically It’s got slightly more pop sensibility than some of our older releases, but lyrically I feel like it’s much of the themes I’ve hit on with self-reflection, only looking slightly more outwards at the world at large, and our communal struggle.

What are you up to in the coming months?

In the coming months we’re going gung-ho with this album rollout. Putting together some dates to tour the record as we speak! Hoping to jump on more festivals although that’s likely going to be last minute, and definitely looking at touring outside the country again.

Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon is set for release on the 16th of May, and can be pre-ordered in two vinyl and one CD option on Bandcamp. We like the sound of the black and orange splatter edition.

All My Friends Are Depressed is out now via Specialist Subject Records. You can stream it on all platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify. For other listening options and all the latest album news, follow Soot Sprite on Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram.