![The Ruby Suns - Fight Softly](https://newreleasesnow.imgix.net/the-ruby-suns-fight-softly.jpg?ar=1%3A1&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&ixlib=php-2.1.1&q=25&w=20&s=aee1575ce7fc84edd3ff3768e1cbe2a2)
Fight Softly veers from the path set by its predecessor, the 2008 release Sea Lion.
Thematically, it's not as wide-eyed or lighthearted, picking apart the relationships faced as we pass through the world -- with our surroundings, each other, ourselves. Sonically, it remains as beat-centric, though these beats are deliciously artificial -- stretched and compacted and distorted beyond recognition. Melodies are scuzzy and digital, no guitars strummed or basses plucked. McPhun's soulful upper-register croon, swallowed into the mix, replaces group chants and full-throated singalongs.