Chicago-born singer-songwriter and producer Softmax (@softmaxtheory) returns with No ID, a sharp, self-aware slice of electronic pop that turns the spotlight inward—on the exhausting performance of being an artist in an industry obsessed with validation. Witty, anxious, and strangely infectious, the track embraces contradiction: critiquing the system while knowingly participating in it. 🎧🌀
🎧 Listen: Softmax – “No ID”
🧠 The Song-and-Dance We Can’t Escape
At its core, “No ID” is about the push-pull of artistic approval—moving too slow, moving too fast, never quite landing in the sweet spot. The hook repeats like a mantra and a wound: “Nothing I do will ever be good enough for you.” It’s blunt and painfully relatable, especially in an era where creativity often feels measured by metrics rather than meaning.
Rather than dressing the critique up in abstraction, Softmax leans into clarity. The irony is intentional. The self-reference is the point.
🎛️ Built by Collaborators Who Get It
Produced by Softmax alongside her longtime collaborator Sam Hudgens, the track features guitar from James Richardson (MGMT), adding a wiry, off-kilter texture that cuts through the electronic frame. Mixing duties were handled by Joel Ford of Ford & Lopatin and Oneohtrix Point Never fame—an ideal match for a song that lives in tension between polish and unease.
The result is catchy without being comfortable, playful without losing its edge.
🖼️ Irony, Extended to the Visuals
That tension carries into the artwork, where Softmax poses unenthusiastically in front of blown-up photographs of the American wilderness—images pulled from her real-life travels. It’s a quiet jab at the aesthetics of promotion: authenticity framed, resized, and repurposed for consumption. Even the visuals refuse to play along too eagerly.
🌆 From Chicago Roots to Pop Subversion
Raised in Chicago, Softmax’s early grounding in guitar and keys drew from the city’s blues lineage before electronic music cracked her world open. Her influences—Outkast, Eurythmics, Roxy Music—share a common thread: artists who smuggled avant-garde ideas into accessible pop forms. That lineage is alive in “No ID,” which challenges listeners without pushing them away.
🔮 What’s Next
“No ID” marks Softmax’s first release since last year’s darker electronic pop cuts Anaesthesia and Ghost In The Shell. Throughout 2025, she’s been quietly writing toward a future album while contributing to composer CJ Mirra’s soundtrack for the surf and environmental documentary The Big Sea. On the live front, she hits London on January 29, supporting Clara Pople and Canty.
✨ Final Take
“No ID” doesn’t pretend to solve the contradictions of modern music-making—it lives inside them. With sharp writing, clever production, and a knowing wink at the machinery behind the scenes, Softmax delivers a track that feels both fun and uncomfortably honest. If this is her way of dancing along, it’s on her own terms.
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🎧 Listen: Softmax – “No ID” Single
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