Sub*T - How My Own Voice Sounds
2026 • SELF-RELEASED • INDIE / ALTERNATIVE / POP
68/100
The idea of obsession plays a big part in Sub*T’s journey to become artists. Alcantara and Bennett met online while each coming from a different but equally and infamously dedicated fanbase, Jade Alcantara representing The 1975 fandom and Grace Bennett coming from the world of One Direction. Sharing a strong bond over their shared obsession with music and bands, in 2019 they decided to make one. They started from scratch, learning how to play and write songs with no prior experience. They completed the arduous journey from fan to artist.
On their Debut, How My Own Voice Sounds The guitars and bass are distorted and fuzzed out, and yet everything on the record is performed with a calm restraint. They croon two-part harmonies so softly, it would be offensive if their eyes were open while they sang them. To pair with these harmonies, lyrics fluctuate between hazy nostalgia & grief, and dryly funny witticisms. (“I’d win a hundred on a scratch off/And spend it on a new haircut” is a favorite of mine).
The Charm of How My Own Voice Sounds is how much it sounds like Alcantara and Bennett are singing to each other, like they are writing and performing simply to impress each other. Alcantara and Bennett are in a world all on their own on this record, like they are winking and nudging at each other, making inside jokes the rest of us would not understand.
As the mention of both distorted guitars and soft, hazy vocals would suggest, There is a big looming influence of shoegaze on How My Own Voice Sounds. It is not always for the best. Their lyrics point to the shape of ideas. They can often be vague, distant, like they hold the subject matter at arm’s length. Their voices get lost amongst the rest of the music and become rather monotonous, especially on the first half of the record on songs like the opener “Complicate” and “Sister Species”.
The duo close the record strong with their best tracks. “Sister Species 2” and closer “Wide Load” are the real standouts of How My Own Voice Sounds. “Wide Load” features Bennett and Alcantara’s strongest songwriting yet. They paint the most vivid portrait of a song’s subject on the record yet and use their dry sense of humor at its best. “Got your card it’s good to hear from you/Nothing happens here, I’m always cutting wood.” They sing at the song’s opening, later on, “Got my oil changed/ And that’s as social as I get”.
In the highpoints of the record, Sub*T is right in front of you but unaware you are watching. In the more forgettable tracks, you listening to them from light years away. Their title is very emblematic of the change of perspective from fan to artist, from listener to performer. It suggests a leap of faith into your own confidence. Listening to the highlights of their debut makes me hope they carry on this confidence and obsession onto their next record.
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This duo gives good reason to be optimistic about their future.