Soft Toy Emergency – I Kno U Want It

Barely a year after their first gig Liverpudlian electro-pop quintet Soft Toy Emergency enter the big bad music industry with their debut single ‘I Kno U Want It’. They have been busy recently touring with the likes of Hadouken and Iglu and Hartly and whilst being more listenable than both of those acts put together they manage to channel the electro vibe of the former and the pop nose of the latter, but should they continue to provide singles like this will no doubt surpass both. On the first listen the opening thirty seconds of ‘I Kno U Want It’ are awful and the only striking thing is the opacity and dullness of the lyrics, which with added repetition feel like a hammer to the head. After a minute or so, and then every time you hear this track thereafter, you ignore the awful refrain and take the track for what it is; An awesome on-the-button hook that fuses Hadouken’s grime leanings with the best in European electro, allowing feisty vocalist Jen to entice you in with Kele Okereke style staccato delivery. As throw away as elements of this track are you will no doubt be left reaching for the repeat button and if they keep churning out tracks like this then the hype machine will soon kick into overdrive. To say this single is more than the sum of its parts would be best described as a huge understatement.