Steven van Betten‘s “Selling Soap” is a prickly deconstruction of the monotony of a retail job. In this particular case, he was imagining the day of a friend who worked at in a store of the luxury soap purveyors, Aēsop. But, it is a track that rings home for really anyone who has faced enduring, consecutive days at a customer facing job. The harsh strums of guitar and intermittent drum rolls keep time with an appropriately tinny texture as each step of the demoralizing workday unfolds in the lyrics. While his music has previously come in a much softer forms, this short and blunt track somehow feels just as inviting and doesn’t lose any of his storytelling magic. He said of the track:
“A couple of years ago, my best friend was working at Aesop. Whenever I saw him after work he would be visibly drained and beat down — venting about how rough it was to put on a smile and try to sell soap to strangers all day. His pain felt so relatable and something about the setting of a fancy soap store felt like the perfect juxtaposition to complement this sense of deep anger and frustration. I wrote this song out of compassion for my friend, hoping he wouldn’t feel alone in his suffering.”
“Selling Soap” will be on van Betten’s upcoming debut LP, Friends and Family, which will be out in April. Listen to more from Steven van Betten here.
