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SOAK, the project of Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson, has announced a new album called decembers, due December 4 on Rough Trade, and released the title track. US and UK/European tour dates run through early 2027.
Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson, who records as SOAK, has announced a new album titled decembers, due out December 4 on Rough Trade. The announcement arrived alongside the release of the album’s poignant title track, which is available to hear now — much like Clutch’s recent title-track reveal. The record is SOAK’s first full-length since the project returned in June with the acoustic ballad “Death Valley Fridge Magnet”, which now appears on the album’s tracklist.
The album spans nine tracks, all styled in lowercase, opening with the title song “decembers” and closing with “closing down.” The full tracklist is: “decembers,” “death valley fridge magnet,” “speed,” “woodstock,” “minus 3,” “subaru,” “backroads,” “transmitter park,” and “closing down.” The previously shared “death valley fridge magnet” sits at track two, linking the June single directly to the new record.
Alongside the album announcement, SOAK has confirmed a run of tour dates on both sides of the Atlantic. The US leg begins October 28, 2026 at The Stone Church in Brattleboro, Vermont, with shows at New York’s Bowery Ballroom on October 29 and The Met in Providence on October 30, all three supported by The Barr Brothers. A UK and Irish leg follows in February 2027, including Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester, Bristol, London’s Bush Hall, Leeds, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Limerick and Cork, before European dates in Paris, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Berlin, closing February 28, 2027 at Berlin’s Mikropol.
Monds-Watson framed the album around a passage from Thomas Wolfe’s novel You Can’t Go Home Again, using its meditation on the impossibility of returning to the past as the emotional starting point for the record, which the songwriter describes as being, in part, about forgiveness.
What This Means for SOAK’s Return
The announcement marks SOAK’s first full-length album statement since returning with new music in June, turning a standalone single into a concrete album cycle with a label, a release date and a substantial tour attached. For listeners who followed “Death Valley Fridge Magnet,” the tracklist confirms that song was a preview of a larger body of work rather than an isolated release.
The scale of the touring — three US dates followed by a fourteen-date run across the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe — signals that Rough Trade is backing the record with a proper campaign, and gives fans in cities from New York to Berlin fixed dates to plan around. The album’s themes, as described by Monds-Watson, center on letting go of the past and forgiveness, suggesting a thematically unified record built around the Wolfe quote the artist cites.
From June Single to Full Album
SOAK is the solo project of Derry-born, Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson, who has released music under the name since the mid-2010s and has been associated with the Rough Trade roster. The project returned in June with “Death Valley Fridge Magnet,” described in the original Stereogum report as a heart-wrenching acoustic ballad.
With the album announcement, that single is now confirmed as part of decembers. The album’s title track, released alongside the announcement, serves as the record’s opening song. Monds-Watson has cited Thomas Wolfe’s You Can’t Go Home Again as the conceptual anchor of the album, quoting its passage about being unable to return “back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love.”
“When I try to describe the album, I always go back to a quote from Thomas Wolfe’s novel You Can’t Go Home Again… where he says ‘You can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood, back home to romantic love… back home to the old forms and systems of things which once seemed everlasting but which are changing all the time.'”
— Bridie Monds-Watson (SOAK), in the album announcement
Details Still Under Wraps
Several specifics about decembers have not been announced. Beyond the title track and “death valley fridge magnet,” the remaining seven songs have not been released or previewed, and no producers, collaborators or recording details have been confirmed in the announcement. No official music video for the title track was mentioned, and the announcement did not state whether additional singles will precede the December 4 release. The exact nature of the title track’s sound — beyond the report’s description of it as poignant — is best judged by listening directly.
Release Date and Tour Ahead
decembers is out December 4 on Rough Trade and is available for pre-order now. The US tour opens October 28, 2026 in Brattleboro, Vermont with The Barr Brothers supporting, ahead of the album’s release. The UK, Irish and European leg runs from February 5 through February 28, 2027, ending in Berlin. Fans can expect possible further singles or videos in the lead-up to the release, though none have been confirmed.
Key Questions
When does SOAK’s new album decembers come out?
decembers is scheduled for release on December 4 on Rough Trade. It is available for pre-order now.
Who is SOAK?
SOAK is the project of Irish singer-songwriter Bridie Monds-Watson, who returned in June with the acoustic ballad “Death Valley Fridge Magnet.”
How many tracks are on decembers?
The album has nine tracks: “decembers,” “death valley fridge magnet,” “speed,” “woodstock,” “minus 3,” “subaru,” “backroads,” “transmitter park,” and “closing down.”
Is SOAK touring in support of the album?
Yes. US dates run October 28–30, 2026, with The Barr Brothers supporting, followed by UK, Irish and European shows from February 5 to February 28, 2027.
What is the album about?
According to Monds-Watson, the album draws on a quote from Thomas Wolfe’s You Can’t Go Home Again and deals with accepting that the past cannot be returned to; the artist describes it in part as being “about forgiveness.”
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