May 13, 2026—Laura Misch has shared a music video with her new single “Soften”, from her forthcoming second album, Lithic, to be released via One Little Independent Records on June 5, 2026—listen to/share the single here, and watch the music video here. The album is available to presave/preorder now here. This single release follows previously shared tracks from Lithic, “Echoes,” “Kairos” and “Scrolls,” and “Shell.”
“Soften” embraces tenderness amid weathering, inspired by Ruth Allen’s Weathering, both in our lifetimes and across the vast sense of geological time. Rather than resist change, allow the elements to form the body and the landscape. Laura’s soothing saxophone clouds, dance in tandem with delicate piano, played by Marysia Osu, over the deep drone-like tones of a medieval hurdy gurdy symphonia by Thomas Fournil of Idrisi Ensemble, and dusty drums that imitate slow lithic steps.
Lithic is a cave borne out of emotion and elemental force. Sound and existential thought echo through its chasms, while ancient history lingers within the stone. Fractured by age, eroded by weather, and awakened by voice, body and breath, the album traces sound back to its primal origins – unearthing music summoned from beneath the ground and from the darkest parts of ourselves.
Defined as “of the nature of or relating to stone,” Lithic holds both grief and hope, swaying between melancholia and euphoria. It offers a moment to listen deeply and reconnect with our shared ancestries in a fractured time.
