{{other uses}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox album | name = Heavy Jelly | type = studio | artist = Soft Play | cover = Soft Play - Heavy Jelly.png | alt = A green jelly mould on a white platter on top of an orange surface. | released = {{Start date|2024|07|19|df=y}} | recorded = | studio = | genre = Punk rock | length = 29:17 | label = BMG | producer = Jolyon Thomas | prev_title = The Velvet Ditch | prev_year = 2019 | next_title = | next_year = | misc = }} '''''Heavy Jelly''''' is the fourth album by English punk rock duo Soft Play, released on 19 July 2024 through BMG Rights Management. It is their first album under the name Soft Play, having been known as Slaves until 2022. The album received universal acclaim from critics.
An extended version titled ''Heavier Jelly'' was released on 18 April 2025, containing six bonus tracks, including the title track.
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings | MC = 84/100<ref name="MC">{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/heavy-jelly/soft-play|title=''Heavy Jelly'' by Soft Play Reviews and Tracks|website=Metacritic|access-date=24 July 2024}}</ref> | rev1 = ''Clash'' | rev1score = 7/10<ref name="Clash">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/soft-play-heavy-jelly/|title=Soft Play – ''Heavy Jelly'' {{!}} Reviews|magazine=Clash|last=Murray|first=Robin|date=18 July 2024|access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> | rev2 = ''DIY'' | rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="DIY">{{cite magazine|url=https://diymag.com/review/album/soft-play-heavy-jelly|title=Soft Play – ''Heavy Jelly'' review|magazine=DIY|last=Wright|first=Lisa|date=19 July 2024|access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> | rev3 = ''The Guardian'' | rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jul/19/soft-play-heavy-jelly-review|title=Soft Play: ''Heavy Jelly'' review – songs of love, loss and leaking bin bags|newspaper=The Guardian|last=Aroesti|first=Rachel|date=19 July 2024|access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> | rev4 = ''The Line of Best Fit'' | rev4score = 8/10<ref name="TLOBF">{{cite web|url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/soft-play-heavy-jelly-radiate-heart-wit|title=Soft Play: ''Heavy Jelly'' Review – punk wit|website=The Line of Best Fit|last=Loftin|first=Steven|date=18 July 2024|access-date=20 July 2024}}</ref> }} ''Heavy Jelly'' received a score of 84 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on five critics' reviews, which the website categorised as "universal acclaim".<ref name="MC"/> Robin Murray of ''Clash'' described it as "wilder, faster, heavier, more frenetic, and downright hilarious than anything they've done together before. Both cartoonish and extreme, it's a cycle of songs that are both heavy duty and utterly ridiculous."<ref name="Clash"/> ''DIY''{{'}}s Lisa Wright called it "eleven tracks that condense everything brilliant about [Soft Play] in a manner that feels truly confident in its own idiosyncratic skin", with songs like "a snarling shout from the middle of mental health issues ('Isaac Is Typing...')" that sit "alongside a ridiculous ode to action hero 'John Wick' and a moving tribute to Isaac's recently-passed friend Bailey ('Everything and Nothing') in a way that somehow makes complete sense".<ref name="DIY"/>
Rachel Aroesti of ''The Guardian'' characterised ''Heavy Jelly'' as "an album full of very harsh, relatively atonal punk-metal – a mode that can get monotonous. Still, the highlights of ''Heavy Jelly'' are enormous; despite the despair, Soft Play's future has never looked brighter".<ref name="Guardian"/> Reviewing the album for ''The Line of Best Fit'', Steven Loftin wrote that "this new start feels fresh. ''Heavy Jelly'' could be the ravishing debut from some doe-eyed newcomers with the visceral energy they're touting this time around, except therein lies a hardened exterior."<ref name="TLOBF"/>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | headline = ''Heavy Jelly'' track listing | all_writing = Isaac Holman, Laurence Vincent, and Jolyon Thomas. "All Things" written with Monk; "Everything and Nothing" written with Raven Bush
| title1 = All Things | length1 = 2:43 | title2 = Punk's Dead | length2 = 3:11 | title3 = Act Violently | length3 = 2:51 | title4 = Isaac Is Typing... | length4 = 2:44 | title5 = Bin Juice Disaster | length5 = 1:55 | title6 = Worms on Tarmac | length6 = 2:02 | title7 = John Wick | length7 = 1:22 | title8 = Mirror Muscles | length8 = 2:41 | title9 = Working Title | length9 = 2:49 | title10 = The Mushroom and the Swan | length10 = 3:02 | title11 = Everything and Nothing | length11 = 3:57 | total_length = 29:17 }} {{Track listing | headline = ''Heavier Jelly'' track listing | title12 = Heavy Jelly | length12 = 2:36 | title13 = Slushy | note13 = featuring Kate Nash | length13 = 3:06 | title14 = Flip Em the Bird | length14 = 3:00 | title15 = Chairman of the Council | length15 = 3:45 | title16 = Green Lamborghini | length16 = 1:26 | title17 = Take Me to the Tip | length17 = 2:40 | total_length = 45:59 }}
==Personnel== '''Soft Play''' * Isaac Holman – lead vocals (all tracks); drums, percussion, backing vocals (tracks 1–10) * Laurie Vincent – electric guitar (all tracks); backing vocals (tracks 1, 3–10); programming, additional production (tracks 1, 4, 9); percussion (2), whistle (10); acoustic guitar, drums, mandolin, strings arrangement (11)
'''Additional contributors''' * Jolyon Thomas – production, engineering (all tracks); synthesizer (tracks 1–10), programming (1, 3–10), guitar (1, 9, 11), acoustic guitar (2); drums, percussion (9); strings arrangement (11) * Kevin Tuffy – engineering * Erik Miles – engineering (tracks 2, 7–10) * Owen Parker – engineering (track 2) * Jason Stafford – studio assistance (tracks 1, 5, 7, 9–11) * Robbie Williams – guest vocals (track 2) * Raven Bush – violin, strings arrangement (track 11) * Kate Nash – guest vocals (track 13)
==Charts== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+ Chart performance for ''Heavy Jelly'' ! scope="col"| Chart (2024) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- {{album chart|Scotland|1|date=20240726|rowheader=true|access-date=27 July 2024}} |- {{album chart|UK2|3|date=20240726|rowheader=true|access-date=26 July 2024}} |- {{album chart|UKIndependent|1|date=20240726|rowheader=true|access-date=27 July 2024}} |- {{album chart|UKRock|1|date=20240726|rowheader=true|access-date=27 July 2024}} |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Discogs release|31266083|Heavy Jelly}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:2024 albums Category:BMG Rights Management albums Category:Soft Play albums