THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Originally started by Elise Cook as a one-woman lo-fi bedroom-pop project, Exeter’s Soot Sprite have expanded to a three-piece. With the addition of Sean Mariner (bass/backing vocals) and Sam Cother (drums/backing vocals), the project has evolved to a dynamic indie-pop band with flashes of shoegaze and alt-rock — all of which are on display in their debut album Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon.
You can hear what Soot Sprite are about on the single All My Friends Are Depressed. The melodically rich track combines a raw, visceral sound with an honest viewpoint on mental health. “My observation of the mental health crisis we’re in, how widespread it feels and how sociopolitical factors are playing such a huge part,” shares Cook. “It’s also a reminder to myself that I need to stop distracting myself from my issues and try and change something or face things or nothing will happen and I’ll never shake off the episode.”
The track also plays into the theme of apathy that is threaded throughout Wield Your Hope Like A Weapon. Covering issues such as activism, mental health, and cycles of personal and societal trauma, the album aims to celebrate the small victories amidst overwhelming despair.
“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. It’s about facing the endless horrors of the world and remembering to pay attention to the good. People on the ground, activism, and remembering that we shouldn’t be hardened by everything we witness or we can lose empathy,” says Cook. “And it feels like without empathy we’ll never be able to achieve class consciousness, and lose our sense of community.”
