SOPHIE
In January 2021, news broke that the pioneering pop producer SOPHIE had died, aged only 34, after a tragic fall when she was attempting to glimpse the moon. The outpouring of grief was instantaneous and the tributes heartfelt, as artists including Rihanna, Flying Lotus, Sam Smith, Christine and the Queens, Rina Sawayama, and Nile Rodgers honored a visionary talent who had touched—and forever changed—pop with her restlessly inventive and, eventually, mainstream-conquering sound. As Jack Antonoff put it on social media at the time, “she’s been at the forefront for a long time and we see her influence in every corner of music…an artist who truly had the ideas first and the guts to put it out there.” Almost four years later arrives *SOPHIE*, the follow-up to SOPHIE’s 2017 debut *Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides* and the album the artist had been working on—and almost finished—before her death. Promised as her only posthumous album, it was completed by SOPHIE’s brother and studio engineer Ben Long, who’d been working closely with her on the record, and who intimately understood her vision for it. Despite the artist’s undeniable impact on radio-friendly pop, this being SOPHIE, the record isn’t always an accessible, straightforward listen. *SOPHIE* is split into four sections of four songs, each exploring different moods, and each one arriving like a thrillingly abrupt left turn. The record almost feels like a voyaging DJ set through her musical world. There’s ambient music (“Intro (The Full Horror)”), frenetic, crunchy production and late-night club sounds to raise anxiety levels (there’s a song called “Berlin Nightmare”). But then there’s also ebullient and expertly crafted pop moments that will make you want to turn the volume right up, from the summer-ready “Reason Why” with Kim Petras and BC Kingdom to “Why Lies,” also with BC Kingdom and LIZ. Later come softer, often yearning tracks, the kind of songs that showcase what always made SOPHIE’s music—and the hyperpop sound she helped pioneer—so special: its heart. See “Always and Forever,” which features PC Music talent Hannah Diamond’s wispy vocals against softer, yet still bouncing, production and lyrics about transcending time and moving towards the light. Indeed, unlike on *Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides*, there are guests on every song on *SOPHIE*, including Petras and Diamond, as well as Cecile Believe, Jozzy, Bibi Bourelly, and artist, writer, and DJ Juliana Huxtable. And that roster feels poignant for SOPHIE’s final album: This is an artist who has always been synonymous with community, collaboration, and friendship. Her chosen guests here deliver spoken word (on the racing yet strangely addictive “Plunging Asymptote” and the spacey “The Dome’s Protection”), pitched-up vocals (“Live in My Truth”), and lonely, heartbreak-fueled lyricism, as on the gorgeous, ’80s-referencing “My Forever” with Cecile Believe, one of the album’s standout moments. “I want to go back to forever,” she sings. “You’ll always be my forever.” Listening to *SOPHIE* is often an exhilarating experience, but it’s also a bittersweet one, a reminder of the producer’s extraordinary ambition and boundless experimentation—and of how much she still had to give.
The electronic pioneer’s posthumous album is bittersweet, difficult to pin down, and an unusually safe statement from one of the 21st century’s great risk-takers.
The electronic pioneer’s posthumous album is bittersweet, difficult to pin down, and an unusually safe statement from one of the 21st century’s great risk-takers.
Despite its imperfect and sprawling nature, SOPHIE's self-titled posthumous release feels evocative and necessary.
The posthumous album from Scottish musician SOPHIE is both wildly experimental and unusually safe – read the review
Despite its imperfect and sprawling nature, SOPHIE's self-titled posthumous release feels evocative and necessary.
The posthumous album from Scottish musician SOPHIE is both wildly experimental and unusually safe – read the review
More commemorative than conclusive - a welcome celebration; an answerphone message revisited.
More commemorative than conclusive - a welcome celebration; an answerphone message revisited.
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Following SOPHIE's tragic death in 2021, it seems as though her legacy as both a groundbreaking producer and songwriter, and as a queer icon, is assured.
Following SOPHIE's tragic death in 2021, it seems as though her legacy as both a groundbreaking producer and songwriter, and as a queer icon, is assured.
Completed by her brother after her accidental death in 2021, the experimental pop producer’s second album is among the most inventive records of the year
Completed by her brother after her accidental death in 2021, the experimental pop producer’s second album is among the most inventive records of the year
Sophie’s posthumous self-titled album feels like a ChatGPT recreation of a true visionary’s unique brand of pop.
Sophie’s posthumous self-titled album feels like a ChatGPT recreation of a true visionary’s unique brand of pop.
SOPHIE by SOPHIE album review by Michael G. Barilleaux. The artist posthumous release is out today via MSMSMSM/Transgressive records
SOPHIE by SOPHIE album review by Michael G. Barilleaux. The artist posthumous release is out today via MSMSMSM/Transgressive records