An angular, danceable slice of post-punk, ‘The Big Man’ takes a look at toxic masculinity and the fragility of the male ego. Written remotely during lockdown, the song sees Big Softy channelling a darker, more stripped back groove. The widescreen elements of their sound still remain, but are carved into something leaner and meaner.
Initially an attempt by Tom Orrell to write the simplest, most repetitive riff he could think of as a reaction to his natural inclination to want to complicate things, the track is twisted and corrupted by Aidan Razzall’s off-kilter synths and electronic drums, before exploding into a wall of noise.
Razzall says of the lyrics: “‘The Big Man’ explores ideas of the fragility of the male ego, and how it is easily swayed and corrupted. From hyper-macho displays of masculinity from guys on the street, to men at the highest echelons of power, toxic masculinity runs rife. This song is about shedding that baggage, and removing it from your life.”
‘The Big Man’ follows the duo’s well-received debut ‘Supercomputer’, which was released last November and saw the band win over fans including Emily Pilbeam at BBC Introducing, plus Frankie Francis & Shell Zenner at Amazing Radio, ending up on the station’s A-list and reaching number three in their chart. The song also turned up on a number of influential playlists, including Sub Pop Suggests.
Big Softy are Tom Orrell & Aidan Razzall. They have worked alongside each other on several different projects over the years in various capacities, but once they started to make demos together, they quickly racked up hundreds of ideas, loops and sketches which eventually formed the songs for Big Softy.
They cite Underworld and LCD Soundsystem as influences, but also have a strong, hyper-real visual identity. “We’re both pretty awkward,” explains Razzall. “So, it’s a way of expressing the sound of the music visually, rather than focusing on us as people.”
