Nearly four years after her death in January 2021, SOPHIE’s self-titled studio album was released on Wednesday.
The album was finished and compiled by SOPHIE’s brother and studio manager Benny Long with oversight from her sister Emily Long, according to a New York Times article.
Sophie Xeon, performing and producing under the name SOPHIE, was an invisible powerhouse in the experimental pop genres, working with artists such as Madonna, Charli xcx, Lady Gaga and Rihanna.
Hyperpop is a genre and movement tearing apart popular musical stylings with experimental, maximalist productions contrasting bubbly pop hooks with assaultive industrial sounds, according to a 2020 Independent article.
The Scottish artist made her solo debut in 2015 with the compilation album “Product,” but kept her identity hidden during performances and interviews.
In 2018, she released her first studio album, “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides,” revealing her face and identity as a transgender woman with the album’s lead single “It’s Okay to Cry.”
At 34, SOPHIE was working on her second album during her time in Athens, Greece before she slipped and fell from an apartment balcony while trying to view the full moon, reported in a 2021 NME article.
The self-titled project “SOPHIE” contains 16 tracks that dip into dark electronic beats, aspirational pop and some traditional brain-twisting production as well.
SOPHIE’s voice is not present anywhere on the tracklist, which is not uncommon for her songs since she was a producer and songwriter first. However, it’s one of the missing puzzle pieces that was present in her previous album.
At points, the album leaves ideas frustratingly unexplored while at others, it delivers transgressive and ear-buzzing audioscapes.
The opening track “Intro (The Full Horror)” is a dark ambient track that would find a perfect place in an alien sci-fi film or video game soundtrack, but leaves a lot to be desired.
The track reuses “Cold Water” from her “Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides Nonstop Remix Album” but without the vocals.
Without much iteration, the synths ebb and flow without building or evolving into anything, only gradually becoming louder by the end of the track. Although immersive, the introduction doesn’t offer much else.
The album’s vocal-led singles such as “Reason Why,” and “My Forever” work better in the context of the album, but remain too slicked back and watered down.
“Reason Why” is the lead single and features Kim Petras and BC Kingdom.
The track starts with a bouncy and nostalgic synth melody that loops for the majority of the runtime while Petras repeats the lyrics, “In your mind, in your eye / Take a little look inside / What's your life, in your eyes / And I know the reason why.”
The song feels sweet and sentimental, but ultimately ends up being repetitive and doesn’t do anything daring for SOPHIE’s discography, which is full of juicy production curveballs.
“Live in My Truth” featuring BC Kingdom and LIZ is one of the blandest moments on the project.
The song boasted four minutes of a generic party anthem backed by chiming synths, steady bass and hand clap percussion pattern.
“My Forever” featuring Cecile Believe plods through its runtime with a staggered, muted synth loop and a quarter-note percussive beat made only somewhat interesting with some hi-hat flourishes throughout.
Some drawn-out synth pads fill out the pre-chorus, with the chorus adding reverbed hits over the lyrics, “Distant nights, city lights, in a dream / I can almost feel you again next to me, beautiful / How I long to be forever.”
One of the major highlights of “SOPHIE” is a series of four electronic dance music (EDM) tracks descending into the latter half of the album seamlessly transitioning into one another with “Do You Wanna Be Alive,” “Elegance,” “Berlin Nightmare” and “Gallop.”
The tempo in “Do You Wanna Be Alive” increases before flipping into a driving EDM switch-up where the rest of this song and the three that follow transform into a mini rave set.
Raving melodies move forward in “Elegance” featuring Popstar with a persistent drum pattern and eerie synth notes sustained over the top of it.
The final track, “Love Me Off Earth,” sends off the album on a high note, carrying a message that feels prescient after SOPHIE’s death as Doss enters with vocals.
“What is it worth to love me on earth? / Defying logic and time / Love me off Earth.” Doss sings.
Twinkling synths light up the post-chorus before they become hectic and discordant, and the lyric “Love me off Earth” becomes pitch-shifted and distorted as extraterrestrial textures accompany it.
The song then deconstructs itself until only a stuttering beat mimicking a heartbeat is left.
As a capstone of her work, “SOPHIE” is decidedly less bold than its predecessors, but despite that, there is still some beauty and amazement to be found.
This is meant to be SOPHIE’s last studio album but potential singles, extended plays and collaborations are still on the table for the future, according to a New York Times article.
No matter what the outcome, SOPHIE will continue to inspire queer and genre-defying artists for years to come and the fact that we can still hear new sounds from her is worth celebrating in itself.
