Soft Hair - Soft Hair

From AllMusic:

Soft Hair is a collaboration between New Zealand psych artist Connan Mockasin and British pop outsider Sam Dust. The two friends first met when Dust's previous band, Late of the Pier, supported Mockasin on a 2009 tour, prompting what would turn out to be a four-year, part-time studio venture. In the intervening years, Dust -- formerly known by his given surname, Sam Eastgate -- reinvented himself as LA Priest, a proprietor of slinky, synth-based art pop. Meanwhile, Mockasin maintained a healthy solo career, releasing a pair of his own albums and touring in Charlotte Gainsbourg's live band. Finally revealing Soft Hair's glowing mane in 2016, the two pals led off with "Lying Has to Stop," a neon slow jam bubbling with husky soul weirdness and bearing an album cover depicting a cinnamon-hued Mockasin and Dust as Adam & Adam complete with yellow boa constrictor and green apple. For listeners wondering what the rest of their eponymous debut album sounds like, simply gaze at the cover. At their best, Soft Hair tread a dimly lit middle ground of fine-tuned aural pleasure that veers off into entertaining lite funk tangents. Both musicians have already proven themselves to be inventive in their craft, and together their exploratory studio acumen comes to the fore here. That being said, their pillow-talking R&B and warbling Prince-inspired falsettos masquerading as freak pop get old after a few songs, making for a pretty difficult listen. There are clever parts strewn throughout and some of the more ambient instrumental tracks like "i.v." and "l.i.v." are quite nice, but overall, the songs themselves don't have quite enough going for them to support the album's quirky intentions.