New Music: Softmax – No ID

Published On: January 29th, 2026|

No ID is a treatise on the pressure to have a specific and acceptable identity in order to release music and be part of the wider industry.

Chicago-based Softmax is aware of the perils of releasing a song where the lyrics talk about a critic preferring ‘how you used to sound,’ but it’s that disarming honesty and air openness about potential criticism give No ID a lot of power.

Softmax subverts expectations by pitching the vocals to an androgynous register, but like the song is incredibly sensual, though the arrangement does so in a style that veers towards 70s and 80s electronic funk with a dreamlike aesthetic. No ID may involve playing the music game, but Softmax is setting her own rules.

Softmax has been working on music for a new album and plays London this weekend. For details, check out her Instagram and TikTok socials. No ID can be heard on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Header photo by Jake Joiner