Soot Sprite Share New Video For “Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon”
Ahead of UK Tour Dates
Debut album Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon out now via Specialist Subject
Ahead of their UK tour dates next week, today, Exeter alt-trio Soot Sprite have shared their new music video for ‘Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon’. The track is the title-track from their debut album, which came out last month via Specialist Subject (FRESH, Jeff Rosenstock, Doe, Muncie Girls).
Of their new video, lead vocalist and guitarist Elise Cook says:
“Our friend Corey Eyres reached out to us wanting to do a video for the record, when we had a phone call about it it’s like our brains all went to the same place. We wanted it to be a silly video for a pretty serious track, and spent a day prancing about the Bath Spa uni grounds making this video, our friends pitched in all the props and our friends Joe Kime and Glenn Saitch kindly offered their days to do incredible extra work, everyone fully sent it and our faces collectively hurt from laughing the whole day away.”
This joyous video accompanies a darker track from Soot Sprite. The track itself showcases the expanse and the range of the outfit as they dig deeper into this brooding exploration that captures intensity and intimacy.
Since the release of their debut single in 2018, Soot Sprite has grown from a one-woman lo-fi bedroom pop project to a fully-fledged touring alt-indie shoegaze outfit. Their debut album sees Cook, Sean Mariner (bass/backing vocals), and Sam Cother (drums/backing vocals) fully embrace the dynamic highs and intimate lows that define their sound.
Sonically, Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon takes influence from many alt-indie greats, creating a sound that blends shimmering melodies with raw, visceral energy. “When I started Soot Sprite I was hooked on Clean by Soccer Mommy and Hovvdy’s Cranberry but with this record I was listening to a lot of Sweet Pill’s catalogue, Ovlov & Wednesday,” explains Cook. Written over a span of four years – some tracks taking shape just weeks before recording – the album was captured in September 2024 at The Bookhouse in London, with the help of former lead guitarist Abi Crisp and production by Tom Hill.
At its core, Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon is a record about refusing to let apathy take hold. Cook explains, “it’s about embracing empathy over apathy, despite the constant stream of worldly horrors. If we have empathy we can have hope, and with hope then change is always possible.” Inspired by Rebecca Solnit’s book ‘Hope In The Dark’, the album title reflects the urgent need for action in an increasingly chaotic world.
“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency.” Rebecca Solnit ‘Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon’, serves as a rallying cry against apathy. “This struck me so deeply, the idea that if we lose hope we lose our ability to change anything. I tried to make a point to never become jaded to the horrors that persist in the world, even with everything that came since the writing this (the amplified genocide in Palestine by Israel, the persecution of climate protesters here in the UK, megalomaniacs coming back into power). The powers in place depend on us becoming complacent to what they’re doing, so we have to hope for better and organise.”
UK Tour Dates
June 22nd – London – The Victoria
June 23rd – Brighton – The Prince Albert
June 24th – Southsea – Wedgwood Rooms
June 25th – Norwich – Voodoo Daddy’s
June 26th – Nottingham – The Grove
June 27th – Manchester – 33 Oldham Street
June 28th – Newcastle – The Lubberfiend
June 29th – Oxford – Tap Social Brewery (Divine Schism’s OH COMMUNITY all dayer)
https://sootsprite.bandcamp.com/album/wield-your-hope-like-a-weapon
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