When Mercedes and Phoenix Arn-Horn first came onto the Canadian music scene in 2010, they were living what many would call a teenage dream. Spotted at a local Battle of the Bands at age 16, their pop-punk outfit Courage My Love scored a deal with a major label, and soon the twin siblings found themselves pumping out angsty EPs and glossy music videos, showcasing in Japan, and playing on the Warped Tour.
Fast forward ten years. The duo had grown in musical directions and outgrown the kind of record label arrangement that comes with songwriting advice like “guitar music doesn’t work at radio” and “that lyric is too angry.”
Goodbye, Courage My Love. Hello, Softcult. New name. New sound. New independent ethos.
The debut Softcult full-length, When A Flower Doesn’t Grow, is self-produced, self-recorded – and packed with unabashedly angry guitar music.
Select the image to access the SoftCult song “She Said, He Said”
“I feel like there was a lot bottled up,” admits singer/guitarist Mercedes. “When we were writing under a major label, we just had this pressure to be really accessible. We couldn’t even swear in our music, let alone write about the really difficult subject matter that we’re writing about today. Like, we yell on a song. That’s just not something that would have flown in the past.”
When A Flower Doesn’t Grow, released on U.K.-based label Easy Life Records, follows a series of singles and EPs that established the Softcult sound: a mix of ethereal shoegaze atmospherics, with the melodic side of grunge, and a burst of punk fury.
Sonically, the album bears the hallmarks of ‘90s alternative, yet the lyrics are very of-the-moment. “16/25” questions the intentions of grown men preying on teen girls. “She Said, He Said” calls out power dynamics between genders, while “Tired” is an exasperated litany of injustices and indignities. Both Mercedes and drummer Phoenix single out riot grrl pioneers Bikini Kill as an influence.
“The ethos of Riot Grrl was always really inspiring to me in making music that has an important message, and telling women’s stories,” says Mercedes. “Being female and female presenting in the world today, we’ve had lot of experiences that were bad. But I think the band itself is empowering because we write from a place of catharsis, getting out there and sort of exorcising those demons.”
In addition to Softcult’s music, the Arn-Horns have taken other operations in-house. Phoenix handles production, engineering, and artwork; Mercedes writes, produces, directs, and edits their videos. They also started a monthly zine, SCripture, which includes contributions from their fans. While some things have stayed the same (the siblings still live and write in Kitchener, ON, and maintain their original management team), for them it feels like a totally new band.
“That’s the crazy thing,” says Phoenix. “We had a whole other band for 10 years, and now we get to have all the big ‘firsts’ and exciting moments all over again. It’s cool that we get a second chance to become a band I think we’ve always wanted to be.”
Softcult’s arrival has coincided with a revival of interest in shoegaze amongst Gen Z. “I think there’s something really cinematic about dreampop,” offers Mercedes. “Walking down the street at night listening to shoegaze, you just feel like you’re the main character of your own movie.” But their international buzz has built steadily across genres and generations.
Select the image to access the SoftCult song “16/25”
They’ve earned a “One to Watch” tag from the indie tastemakers at Stereogum, a cover story from metal mag Kerrang! and support slots on tours with rock heavyweights Muse and Incubus. So far in 2026, The Globe and Mail called Softcult “one of the most exciting new Canadian bands this decade” and the new album earned a five-star rating from the NME in the U.K. Phoenix points out that, ironically, they’ve even found themselves getting more radio play than ever.
Those aren’t the metrics the siblings are keeping their eyes on, however. “I feel that if we’re still pushing ourselves as songwriters, we don’t get jaded, we don’t get bored – that’s success,” says Mercedes. “It’s more about our personal relationship to the music, and that the music connects with people.”
The album title When A Flower Doesn’t Grow was inspired by a quote from Dutch author Alexander Den Heijer: “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.” It struck Mercedes as relevant to both personal struggles and societal ones – wherever systems of oppression are holding back authentic expression. Now that the duo has changed their writing and recording environment, and found a new kind of success with Softcult, how does she feel about the quote?
“Yeah, I’d say I’m on my way,” she explains. “I’ve taken root, and I’m starting to bloom. Finally.“