SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS – The Phantom Of Canton (2026, 3LP, Fruits de Mer Records) 

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Fruits de Mer Records

Format: 3LP, Album, Limited Edition, Coloured Vinyl

Release Date: 15 Mar 2026

The new album by Soft Hearted Scientists, “The Phantom Of Canton”, feels tailor-made for the ritual of vinyl listening — and Fruits de Mer Records does it justice with an expansive triple-LP edition landing on March 15. (Note: The album was originally released in 2025 via The Hip Replacement as a 16-track CD).This deluxe set stretches the original record across four sides and adds a flowing, sidelong suite assembled by Nathan Hall and producer Frank Naughton, plus a full side of instrumental reworks. Conceptually, the album drifts through isolation, faded romance and the emotional toll of creative obsession, yet it radiates warmth, colour and a quietly defiant optimism. Sonically, it may be the band’s most daring statement to date — weaving electric and acoustic guitars with rich keyboards, textured effects and flashes of everything from big band swing and doo-wop to psych-folk, early prog, post-punk and cinematic soundscapes.

Here’s the label’s press release to get an idea of what is all about:

Fruits de Mer Records

Soft Hearted Scientists’ latest album ‘The Phantom Of Canton’ demanded to be released on vinyl, but we had to wait until we could offer something more than a straight 12″ version of the CD.

Fortunately, now we can – with an extended 3LP set, including a sidelong reprise of the album plus a side of instrumental versions.

The Scientists’ Nathan Hall describes the original album…

“…loosely speaking, a psychedelia infused concept album of sorts, dealing with themes such as alienation, lost love, and the sometimes high personal price of obsessively pursuing creative projects, or indeed any job or calling; however, it is often very upbeat and hopeful, even joyful, and acknowledges that the highs outweigh the lows”…

Musically this might be the band’s most ambitious yet. Even the darker songs are painted in bright colours and infused with an hallucinatory element. Electric and acoustic guitars and a vast range of keyboards and sound effects and sound events illuminate the lyrics.

Influences include 1940s big band music, 1950s doo wop and rock&roll, 1960s psychedelia and folk rock, early 1970s prog rock, punk, post punk, electronic music and sound track music”

Fruits de Mer’s 3LP set presents the original album across four sides of vinyl and adds a sidelong ‘suite’ put together by Nathan and producer Frank Naughton that picks up on the themes of the individual tracks, together with another side of instrumental mixes.

“The Phantom Of Canton” contains 17 “hand-crafted” songs, divided into the 6 sides of the triple vinyl LP. Rather than dissect all seventeen tracks from the album, I’ll linger on a few personal favorites that truly capture the spirit of Soft Hearted Scientists at their most inspired. “Fly By Dragonfly” (B1) is pure Scientists magic — that unmistakable, sun-drenched pop touch where melodies cascade with effortless grace. The twelve-minute “Approaching The Canyon – The Canyon (Smile Of The Sun Eyed Woman)” (B2) unfolds as a psych-pop voyage of remarkable scope, its lavish arrangements flirting with the melodic grandeur of early ’70s progressive rock while drifting somewhere beyond Saturn’s rings. “The Trapdoor Opens – Trapdoor In The Sky” (C3) moves in a dreamlike haze, gently prog-leaning, unfolding like a miniature sonic narrative rich in colour and imagination. The brief “The Cloud Parade (Submarine Reprise)” (D2), though under two minutes, feels like a curious studio transmission from the album’s inner cosmos — spacey, exploratory, intriguing. “Song For My Sunflower” (D3) stands out as an exquisitely orchestrated psych-pop ballad, ornate yet heartfelt, radiating a kaleidoscopic pop-art elegance. And then there is “The Phantom Of Canton Express” (E1), a glorious side-long epic stretching close to eighteen minutes, seamlessly blending pop immediacy, progressive ambition and cinematic sweep — a bold, immersive statement that crowns the album in grand style.

Ultimately, “The Phantom Of Canton” feels less like a conventional release and more like a fully realized musical journey — ambitious yet heartfelt, intricate yet disarmingly melodic. With this record, Soft Hearted Scientists reaffirm their rare ability to balance progressive scope with pop immediacy, crafting an album that rewards deep listening and reveals new colours with every spin… TimeLord Michalis

Tracklist

Links

Get it via FRUITS de MER RECORDS Web Shop (UK customers)

Alternatively, get it through SONIC RENDEZVOUS (you have to sign in first) / (EUROPE/WORLD customers) 

Visit SOFT HEARTED SCIENTISTS Official Web