"Some musicians are so adept at translating sound into beauty that we can forget just how exceptional their gift is, even over the course of a single album. Since the first Soft Hills EP appeared in December of 2008, bandleader Garrett Hobba has reliably delivered songs that engulf the listener in their grip. It didn’t take long for Hobba to prove himself as an artist we should think of less as someone who merely writes songs and more as someone who channels transcendence via his fingertips. And he’s only gotten more skilled over time, steadily working at his unique amalgamation of folk, pop and indie rock. As one of his key defining features, Hobba often strains those core genre elements through a dreamlike psychedelic filter that suggests he has more in common with the high-def, “cinematic” mindset of space rock than his influences might indicate." -PASTE
"Stargazing psych from Seattle prodigy - 8/10" Uncut
“One of the city's most accomplished psych-pop bands, Soft Hills compose exceptional melodies and conjure dreamy mirages of mellow-gold sound that will resonate strongly with anyone who digs Zombies member Colin Blunstone's solo works, Beachwood Sparks, or David Crosby's classic 1971 LP If I Could Only Remember My Name.” - The Stranger
“Clearer in their vision than ever before, the Soft Hills turn in their brightest productions and most daring songwriting choices on Departure, setting the scene for even further refinement on future albums.” - All Music
“The alluring soundtrack to a desert road trip taken at midnight.” - Huffington Post
“The Soft Hills sounds familiar because of its sweeping arrangements, crisp harmonies, inspiration drawn from lofty dreams, and of course Hobba’s soft, angelic vocals… the band’s melancholic, easy-on-the-ears vibe is something truly lovely and worth the listen.” - Seattle Weekly
"What this Seattle band has done is take the languid tempos and ragged, molten, Neil Young & Crazy Horse feedback of classic grunge and applied them to more reflective, golden-hued contemporary indie songwriting. And they have added some of the grandiosity and crushing guitar sweep of what used to be called shoe gaze." - Pop Matters
"Midway through recording this fourth full-length, The Soft Hills’ Garret Hobba fell ill from respiratory problems due to mould in his Seattle bedroom. After that serious health scare, he headed to California to recuperate, and it’s there that ‘Departure’ was finished. Unsurprisingly, that event is prevalent in these songs, notably in the lyrics of claustrophobic opener ‘Golden Hour’ (“//Choking while you’re living/The pressure’s closing in//”) and the cold, gloomy, minimalistic electro-indie of ‘The Fold’ and ‘White Queen’. But there are glimpses of his recovery too, in the lilting California psych-folk of ‘Blue Night’ and the warm, if wistful, Sparklehorse-esque fuzz of ‘Belly Of A Whale’. Almost dying must have been terrifying, but Hobba should be overjoyed that this came out of it." - NME
"The Bird Is Coming Down To Earth offers some lovely moments, some fine songwriting and a sense of wonder that’s not always easy to find in these cynical times." - The Line Of Best Fit
"The Soft Hills are a treasure, a band adept at facing the holy and profane and ennobling both with music that is often achingly brilliant. “Chromatisms” is jaw-dropping." - Foxy Digitalis
"Seattle, WA foursome Soft Hills have a great deal going for them. Most striking is their ability to make their influences sound cohesive. Blending post-rock and folk isn't the easiest thing to do, but that to do so in such a seemingly effortless way is nothing to scoff at." - Exclaim!
"Psych-folk quartet the Soft Hills hit all the right bittersweet notes on last year’s breakthrough release “The Bird Is Coming Down to Earth,” and continue their wistful ways on every-bit-as-good follow-up “Chroma-tisms.” Frontman Garrett Hobba’s soaring vocals remain the musical anchor as the Soft Hills impress with “Riding High,” “Sweet Lou-ise,” “Dear Mr. Moonlight,” “Horse & Carriage” and “The Gifts You Hide.” This is a band that should appeal to fans of Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes." – Pittsburgh Daily News
"“Riding High” has the brewing urgency of a classic dark folk tune." - Alan Cross
"The Soft Hills understand the art of bittersweet sound-scaping well, but a couple moments on Chromatisms have those not-so-palpable qualities that make songs unforgettable. Color me curious." - The Aquarian
"The Soft Hills are not making music to fit into a movement or scene; they create what they please and explore where they need. And that is what sets Chromatisms apart as a release worth getting to know." - Owl Magazine
"Like any good band, Seattle’s Soft Hills have evolved, from a pixie dust-kissed folk-pop act to a full-on psychedelic rock juggernaut. Heavy without being metal in any sense, the frequently spectacular Chromatisms finds the band truly coming into its own, inhabiting this acid dream as if born to it." - The Big Takeover (Michael Toland's Top 10 List)
"The Bird is Coming Down to Earth is a perfect title for this album, in that it evokes the romance of the forest, but reminds the listener that the woods are where wolves hunt and that soaring bird has to return to land." - Performer Magazine
"Das neue Album von The Soft Hills lässt sich schwer greifen. Es ist perfekt für einen Tag wie heute. Ein Tag, an dem man sich solch träumerischen, ruhigen Klängen hingeben kann und will, ein Tag, an dem Gedanken frei sein können, ein Tag, an dem man nichts zu befürchten hat. Wie „The Bird Is Coming Down To Earth“ wohl bei Sonnenschein klingt?" -CulturMag
"The Soft Hills pour remplacer les Fleet Foxes (The Soft Hills to replace the Fleet Foxes). L’avenir des Fleet Foxes est en question, on n’a pas eu de nouvelles de Midlake depuis quelques lunes, mais tout n’est pas perdu pour les amateurs de joliesses boisées, de chœurs splendides soufflés sur les braises d’un feu de camp romantique, pour les âmes chamallow qui aiment se perdre dans des arrangements piqués à la belle étoile 70s, qui se délectent de mélodies taillées dans les hautes branches de séquoias millénaires. Tout n’est pas perdu, tout est même gagné : qu’ils jettent une oreille, et pourquoi pas les deux, sur l’album The Bird Is Coming Down To Earth de The Soft Hills, Américains de (tiens tiens) Seattle, et leur cœur, s’il n’est pas encore sec, devrait se remettre à rebondir comme un heureux cabri." - Les InRocks
"R.E.M. möter The Killers i öppningsspåret Golden Hour och Hobbas röst är melodisk och självsäker. I senare spår kommer 70-talets experimentella acid-influenser in. Det är täta spår med mästerliga musiker. Ett mörkare och rockigare sound än någonsin förr tar bandet till nya nivåer. " - GAFFA
"Everything about The Soft Hills' seventh album ‘Go Under’ speaks to this mysterious meeting of reality and imagination; one foot planted softly in the dream world and another precariously gripping a crumbling cliff ledge over a very real and deadly drop." - Gold Flake Paint