LOS ANGELES, CA- I’ve been aware of Soft Palms for a while, keeping tabs on their dreamy indie output while also following the separate projects of husband-and-wife duo Julia and Scott Montoya. But July 18th, 2025, at Gold Diggers was the first time I’d finally caught them live as Soft Palms. After years of orbiting their music from afar, stepping into that dimly lit bar and seeing them together felt long overdue. Both Julia and Scott greeted me warmly before the set; an easy friendliness that carried over into the performance.
On stage, Julia was commanding yet unpretentious. Later, she told me, “Being on stage is the only thing that matters to me. That’s where I feel free.” That sense of release radiated through their set, where hypnotic guitar textures, Scott’s rhythmic drumming, and Julia’s vocals meshed into a sound both transportive and alive.
Soft Palms began as something of a merger between their previous projects, but as Julia explained, “The more we played, the more we figured out our sound and broke away from our past projects. Now Soft Palms is its own thing.” That evolution was evident at Gold Diggers. The music no longer felt like a continuation of what they’d done before—it pulsed with its own identity.
Their self-titled debut leaned into warmth and comfort—what Julia described as “a sonic embrace.” But the new material they’ve been shaping is a different story. “The next release has more edge—more angst,” she said. “Lyrically I’m able to be more straightforward and honest. Sonically the songs have bite but still retain Scott’s propensity for smoothness and ease. It has been really cool to see the sound evolve and reflect the realities of modern times.”
That contrast between dreamy ease and sharper urgency is exactly what made their Gold Diggers set so compelling: songs that invite you to drift while still tugging you back with something sharper underneath.
As partners in both life and music, Julia and Scott never truly turn off the creative dialogue. “We work on everything together so there is no time when we are not discussing a project,” Julia admitted. That deep interconnection seems to fuel the band’s live chemistry, where every glance and gesture between them on stage felt like shorthand developed over years of collaboration.
Soft Palms record everything at their home studio, COMA, where new gear has pushed their sound forward. Production remains mostly in-house, though they rely on trusted ears like mastering engineer and mentor Mick Boggis, along with the team at Everloving. “We value their experience and opinions,” Julia noted.
Still, the essence remains tight and organic: guitar, drums, and voice interwoven. Julia emphasized how much Scott’s drumming shines on the new material, giving it the extra push of momentum longtime listeners might not expect.
For Julia, the goal hasn’t changed even as the sound has sharpened. “We always try to create a space for escape and undulation,” she said. “Hopefully folks will also feel an emotional release as well.”
That’s exactly what their Gold Diggers performance provided: a fleeting, unrepeatable escape that existed entirely in its own space: different from the permanence of the studio recordings, but no less important. As Julia put it, “Live shows are spontaneous and alive and get to exist in their own realm.”
If the set I witnessed is any indication, Soft Palms’ next chapter will bring that same ethereal pull, but with a new urgency. After years of waiting, seeing them live as a fully realized band was worth it—and it feels like the real story of Soft Palms is only just beginning.
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LIVE CLIPS
