Soft Play

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Soft Play
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Soft Play at Hellfest, 2025.
Background information
Also known asSlaves (2012–2022)
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OriginRoyal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England
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GenresPage Template:Hlist/styles.css has no content.
Years active2012–present
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MembersPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
  • Isaac Holman
  • Laurie Vincent
Websitesoftplayband.com

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Soft Play (stylised in all caps) are an English punk rock duo formed by Isaac Holman (lead vocals, drums) and Laurie Vincent (backing vocals, guitar, bass) in Royal Tunbridge Wells in 2012.[1] They were known as Slaves until 2022, when they changed it and publicly apologized for its offensive reference to slavery.[2]

History

Sugar Coated Bitter Truth

As Slaves, the band released their first EP, Sugar Coated Bitter Truth, under Boss Tuneage Records in 2012. Their first single, "Where's Your Car Debbie?", was released by Fonthill Records in early 2014; they were then signed by Virgin EMI.[3] They released their first single under Virgin, "Hey", in November 2014, and released "The Hunter" later that month. They gained more exposure in late 2015 when "The Hunter" was featured on the Sky One series You, Me and the Apocalypse. They also appeared on Later... with Jools Holland and were nominated for the BBC's Sound of 2015.[4][5]

In May 2015, The Fader featured the group in an article about provocative names for music artists.[6] Vincent told The Fader that criticism of the name came as a surprise to them, describing how they chose the name while trying to think of "an abrasive sounding word, like Clash". He further said, "We just liked the word. We weren't trying to provoke."[7] The two also addressed the controversy around their name in a statement on Facebook: "Our band name relates to people not being in control of their day to day lives. Slaves was our way of getting off the paths we didn't want to walk down anymore. The music we make is motivational and aimed at people personally as well as collectively."[6]

Are You Satisfied?

The duo released their debut album Are You Satisfied? on 1 June 2015.[8] It reached No. 8 in its first week on the UK Albums Chart.[9] The album was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize and has since gone Silver in the UK.[10][11][12]

Take Control

They released their second album Take Control on 30 September 2016. Beastie Boys member Mike D produced the album, and was featured on the track "Consume or Be Consumed". The album fared better in the charts than the first, climbing to No. 6 in its first week on the UK Albums Chart.[13]

Acts of Fear and Love

They released their third album Acts of Fear and Love on 17 August 2018, which reached number 8 on the UK album charts.[14] In July 2019, the band released a four-track EP titled The Velvet Ditch and played a headline set at Truck Festival.

Name change and Heavy Jelly

In December 2022, they changed their name to Soft Play. They explained, "The name 'Slaves' is an issue [and] doesn't represent who we are as people or what our music stands for any longer."[2] Their fourth studio album (and first under their new name) Heavy Jelly was released on 19 July 2024.[15]

Discography

Studio albums

As Slaves

List of studio albums, with chart positions and certifications
Title Details Peak chart positions Certifications
UK
[16] 		SCO
[16]
Are You Satisfied? 8 13
Take Control
  • Released: 30 September 2016
  • Label: Virgin EMI
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download
 6 9
Acts of Fear and Love
  • Released: 17 August 2018
  • Label: Virgin EMI
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download
 8 8

As Soft Play

List of studio albums as Soft Play, with selected details
Title Details Peak chart positions
UK
[16] 		SCO
[16]
Heavy Jelly
  • Released: 19 July 2024
  • Label: BMG
  • Formats: LP, CD, digital download
 3 1

Extended plays

List of EPs, with selected details
Title Details
Sugar Coated Bitter Truth
  • Released: 19 July 2012[18]
  • Label: Girl Fight Records
  • Formats: CD, Digital download
The Velvet Ditch
  • Released: 18 July 2019
  • Label: Virgin EMI
  • Formats: Digital download

Singles

As lead artist

Title Year Album
As Slaves
"Where's Your Car Debbie?"[19] 2014 Non-album single
"Hey"[20] Are You Satisfied?
"The Hunter"[21]
"Feed the Mantaray" 2015
"Cheer Up London"[22]
"Sockets"[23]
"Spit It Out"[24] 2016 Take Control
"Take Control"[25]
"Cut and Run"[26] 2018 Acts of Fear and Love
"Chokehold"[27]
"Magnolia"[28]
"One More Day Won't Hurt"[29] 2020 The Velvet Ditch
As Soft Play
"Punk's Dead"[30] 2023 Heavy Jelly
"Mirror Muscles"[31] 2024
"Act Violently"
"Everything and Nothing"
"Slushy (feat. Kate Nash)"[32] 2025 N/A
Title Year Peak
chart
positions 		Album
UK
[16]
"Control"[33]
(Chase & Status featuring Slaves) 		2016 – Tribe
"Momentary Bliss"
(Gorillaz featuring Slowthai & Slaves) 		2020 58 Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Songwriting and production credits

Title Year Artist(s) Album Contribution Written with: Produced with:
"Missing"[34] 2019 Slowthai Nothing Great About Britain Page Template:Hlist/styles.css has no content.
  • Co-writers
  • Co-producers
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 Kwes Darko

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hutchcraft, Jak (22 October 2013). "We talked to punk duo Slaves about LA Haine an being in love". noisey.vice.com. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Slaves: British punk band change name to Soft Play after criticism". BBC News. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Tunbridge Wells punk band The Slaves signed to Virgin EMI". Kent and Sussex Courier. 4 March 2014. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."BBC Sounds of 2015". Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."NME News Slaves confuse Bono on debut 'Jools Holland' performance". NME.com. 22 October 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Slaves respond to criticism over their band name". NME. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cliff, Amy (26 March 2015). "Why Would A Band of White Dudes Name Themselves Slaves?". The FADER. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Interview: Slaves - "I Think It Has Quite An Instant Feel And Message"". Inveterate. 11 March 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2015. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."SLAVES". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mercury Prize 2015 shortlist". BBC. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Geddes, Clarke (16 June 2015). "Reviews Slaves Are You Satisfied?". Clash Music.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Slaves". Unrecorded. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."take+control | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."SLAVES on Instagram: "Doing an album"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 24 December 2021.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Heavy Jelly | CD".
  16. ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Slaves - UK Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
  17. ^ Script error: No such module "cite". Type Slaves in the "Search:" field.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sugar Coated Bitter Truth by Slaves on iTunes". iTunes. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Where's Your Car Debbie? - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". iTunes. 6 February 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Hey - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". iTunes. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Hunter - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". iTunes. Archived from the original on 10 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Cheer Up London (Slaves x Mike Skinner x Jammer) [Remix] - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". iTunes. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Sockets - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". iTunes. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Spit It Out 7" Single". shop.virginemi.com/slaves. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Take Control 7"". shop.virginemi.com/slaves. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Cut and Run - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". iTunes. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Slaves talk their new album Acts of Fear and Love, first/wrong impressions, and auditioning for a new drummer". The Independent. 31 July 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Magnolia - Single by Slaves on Apple Music". iTunes. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."One More Day Won't Hurt (Bob Vylan Remix) - Single by Slaves". Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  30. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Punk's Dead - Single by SOFT PLAY on Apple Music". Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mirror Muscles - Single by SOFT PLAY on Apple Music". Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  32. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Slushy - feat. Kate Nash". Spotify. Retrieved 25 May 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  33. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Control (feat. Slaves) - Single by Chase & Status on Apple Music". iTunes. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  34. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Nothing Great About Britain (Deluxe) / slowthai". Tidal. Retrieved 17 May 2019.

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