Soma was a drink consumed in religious ceremonies in ancient Persia. The name was later borrowed by Aldous Huxley for his novel Brave New World, where Soma is a space-out drug that is described as having “All of the benefits of Christianity and alcohol without their defects”. THE STROKES and THE SMASHING PUMPKINS also later named songs after it. However, even though we know all this about soma the concept, we know very little about SOMA the band. They don’t have a Facebook or Twitter page, and the only social media presence I could find was a couple of family members pushing the track on Twitter. In fact, the only real evidence we have for their existence is debut single Uncertain.
Uncertain is set in the interzone between R’n’B and house, the track’s gentle pulsing momentum combined with ultra-smooth soulboy vocals. SOMA let the glossy sheen slip for a little with a distorted middle-eight, before scooping everything back together for one more chorus. Uncertain is, according to their Soundcloud page part of “upcoming debut project: Honey”, though whether Honey is an album, EP, or four-hour abstract art installation is anyone’s guess. Uncertain is out now.
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