"The Soft Cavalry arrives less as a Slowdive extracurricular activity than as a new outlet for Clarke, whose brother and former bandmate Michael Clarke produces. Along with Midlake/Mercury Rev keyboardist Jesse Chandler, the lineup also includes a drummer who has collaborated with the Clarke siblings on other projects (including backing Ricky Gervais in a 2016 mockumentary film). The resulting collection of cavernous electro-rock, elaborately adorned psych-pop, and winsome ambient-folk is polished and professional-sounding, but it's also as tedious and unmemorable as the group's name".