The round ones (very cool) and the first set of long, skinny glass bars. (#1 and #3)

I agree with # 1 and # 3, with #3 being my favorite for "soft" contemporary. #1 is very contemporary, which is a great look too, just not as "soft"

I like the long skinny glass bars as well, but why not run them vertically instead of horizontally? That's what I did in my kitchen, albeit using slate 1x2s instead of those really long glass ones. Here's a pix to give you an idea of what I did:

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I vote for #'s 1, 3, and 5, with 1 and 5 being my faves, at least for the moment! Maybe even some sort of combo of 1 and 5?

Love #1 & #5 both as accents. I really like them both but not sure how dark it would be in your kitchen....do you have a full kitchen pic? If too dark I'd try putting them with the creamy colored long bars of #3 & 4.
All really nice choices : ) Not sure if I was much help. Are your knobs similar to the #1 pic?

I like #2 and #5 or a combo of them. I like the way the glass tiles match the grout and contrast of the copper with them. All are lovely.

Natural maple will take on more of an orange hue over time so keep that in mind (its what we have in one bathroom and I recently compared to new maple and there was quite a diff)

#3 is my favorite!!

#7 Could be really nice if you wanted a cool (color temp) backsplash... #7 + dark #5 accents could also work and really have some personality but I'd need to see #7 with a sample of the maple before I'd go with it.

#5 intense black is nice but I am worried it would be too intense - you asked for "soft contemporary"

#2 I would like in a bathroom but not in the kitchen... it just looks too "dirty" for me.

#6 is way too busy for your granite!

I like #1 -- it's different and kind of fun -- looks like bubbles!

#3 for sure!

i think with that counter, a pop of color would work well. depending on what else you've got in the room, of course.

of all the tiles you showed, i like the long skinny ones with the red and green tones. almost any warm color would contrast that granite--red, orange, yellow.

# 3 is my favorite!

I like #2 and #4. #3 are nice, but I like the lighter colors of #4

I like #1, #2, #4, or #5

I think it is dependent on how dark you want the room to be and what kind of natural lite you have; for me it would be the lighter options, 2 & 4. And as someone else mentioned use the look of #1 for your knobs, pretty cool looking.

I like #2 & #5. I like to stick to neutral colors and use accessories to bring in color. Some of the other tiles have colors in them and after many years you might tire of the color and want to rip it out and put something else in. When you go with neutral colors you can easily bring in whatever colors you like by changing out your accessories in your kitchen.

I like #5.