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Soft Machine — Thirteen
(Bandcamp Dyad Records, 2026, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2026-03-24

Thirteen Cover art

Can I say that Thirteen sounds like no Soft Machine album before it, but sounds completely like Soft Machine? It has historically been the case that every Soft Machine album is a transitional one, and this one is no different, marking the debut of Asaf Sirkis on drums. It’s the second with Fred T. Baker on bass, the third with Theo Travis (I’m only counting studio albums released under the name Soft Machine), and the fourth with John Etheridge (starting with Softs in 1976). Many Expose readers don’t need any kind of historical info about this band, but for the others, the first seven Soft Machine albums (between 1968 and 1973) were titled with some variation of their number in sequence; after that were Bundles (8), Softs (9), Land of Cockayne (10), Hidden Details (11), and Other Doors (12), along with approximately 643 live albums chronicling every era of the band and every combination of personnel that’s worked together (Are there any combinations still not documented?). There were also albums released under slightly different names, notably Soft Machine Legacy, that were for all intents and purposes Soft Machine albums, though it wasn’t until Hidden Details that this was formally acknowledged. So much for the history. Setting that aside and coming at Thirteen fresh, the album exemplifies how jazz and rock can be fused together into a seamless style that honors both sides. Though, to be honest, in my mind, it’s just jazz played with electric instruments and including odd meters and rhythms that take more from funk than swing or bebop. Sometimes you get the standard structure of head / solo(s) / head, but many of the pieces flow from section to section in other ways. There’s a fondness for open-ended harmonies, with many pieces built around a bass line that repeats, and even when there is a chord progression, it doesn’t draw from the blues or the standard songbook. The musical personalities of the players shine through while maintaining that nebulous Soft Machine sound. Etheridge has a great melodic sense on the guitar, with lovely tones on his long notes, tasty vibrato and bends, and crazy fast runs that never sound gratuitous. Travis is great on flute, tenor, and soprano sax as well as keyboards, sometimes sweet and sometimes gritty. It seems like there’s more use of keys here than is often the case, with electric piano, organ, and synths, some courtesy of guest Pete Whittaker. Baker has the style down, and gets in some excellent fuzz bass, carrying on the tradition that goes back to Hugh Hopper in the band’s first iteration. And it’s hard to imagine a better replacement for John Marshall than Asaf Sirkis. It’s remarkable that all four members contribute compositions, but it all flows so well that without checking the credits, you’re unlikely to guess who wrote what. I can’t think of any reason why existing Softs fans wouldn’t love Thirteen, and even aside from fans, it’s just a flat-out great album for lovers of great music that makes its own rules.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Soft Machine, Fred Thelonious Baker, Theo Travis, Daevid Allen, John Etheridge, Asaf Sirkis

More info
http://softmachine7.bandcamp.com/album/thirteen

 

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