Chopped-up piano provides the song’s defining bounce, joined by shimmering synths, a loose groove with hints of 90s dance beats and some genuinely spine-tingling chord changes. There’s an MGMT-like quality to the processed vocals and synth-heavy chorus, but ‘50/50’ ultimately succeeds on its own infectious optimism. It’s euphoric without becoming overwhelming, carrying the kind of warmth that makes everything feel a little brighter for a few minutes.

The visualiser provides a darker, playfully scruffy counterpoint, placing SOFY in a run-down bedroom wearing devil horns and fairy wings, surrounded by candles, a mattress on the floor and an old portable TV displaying the lyrics through static. Considering ‘50/50’ apparently began life as a guitar-led love song called ‘Salad Spinner’, its final form feels like a particularly satisfying little piece of musical magic.

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Drawing inspiration from artists such as The xx and Aphex Twin, ‘Superfriend’ strikes a beautiful balance between intimate indie pop and understated electronica. Gentle breakbeats, hypnotic rhythms and airy production create the perfect backdrop for SOFY’s warm, understated vocal, allowing the song’s sense of nostalgia to unfold naturally rather than overwhelming the listener.

What makes ‘Superfriend’ particularly refreshing is its focus on platonic love. While songs celebrating enduring friendship are surprisingly rare, SOFY captures that comforting feeling of having someone who knows every version of you and still feels like home. Soundtracking memories of cycling through quiet streets at dawn or beneath golden-hour skies, ‘Superfriend’ is a tender reminder that some of life’s most meaningful love stories are the friendships that quietly shape who we become.

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The album – written and recorded in Camden with longtime collaborator and bandmate Edward Denholm in almost total isolation, and later mixed by Mercury Prize-nominated Nathan Boddy (Olivia Dean, Oklou, Nilufer Yanya) – draws it title from one of the album’s key songs, and SOFY’s favourite track, ‘How To Perform Magic’: “I’m a magician, and for my favourite trick, I’ll ruin everything! It’s quite incredible.” It’s a line about self confidence colliding with self destruction – one that resonated deeply with her reality and inner dialogue.

Written in the midst of intensive digital burnout, mounting industry frustrations, and the heavy emotional rollercoaster that comes with your late 20s, the record captures SOFY becoming untethered. From the outside, all appeared bright: a FIFA soundtrack placement, a loyal fanbase (or army of “rats”, as they call themselves), Glastonbury appearances, sold-out shows across the country, opening for Sabrina Carpenter, Liam Gallagher and Kasabian, and praise from Arlo Parks, Sam Fender and Yungblud…not a bad feat considering she has built her career with no major label backing, and her management handled by her best friend.

However, beneath the surface was burnout, pressure, and a spiralling mental decline. “It’s a symptom of this fast food culture of music over the past few years,” she notes of virality culture. It affected every aspect of her life. Her attention span, her creativity, even her relationships. Temporarily removing herself from the online sphere was the only way to ensure she wouldn’t circle the drain. “I actually feel like me again.”

“I’ve always felt like songwriting is its own kind of magic… but at that time, it genuinely felt like the only thing that could fix everything was waving a magic wand,” she admits.

Catharsis, and a sense of renaissance is a prominent feature in the record. The album traverses themes of dejection, imposter syndrome, disillusion carried by guitar-led melancholy, dusty breakbeats, reverb soaked vocals and low-slung basslines; in the quintessential SOFY manner, it’s unflinching (and even a touch sardonic) in its honesty, but at the forefront is a distinct willingness, a burning passion, and a refusal to let go of something she loves so dearly.

“I love ‘DooYaa,’ it’s one of my favourite songs I’ve ever written. Its strength is definitely in its sarcasm.” SOFY notes on the lead single. The track was during a period when she was balancing two jobs to support her music, and doing everything in her power to keep momentum as an independent artist.

“I felt really frustrated seeing others handed opportunities through nepotism, industry connections, or major labels. So this song is a huge two fingers up to the hype machine.”

How To Perform Magic:

1. 40 Minute Masterpiece
2. DooYaa
3. Wishbone
4. How To Perform Magic
5. Cashmere
6. Headlock
7. Saturation
8. Jealousy’s A Fever
9. Nintendogs
10. Superfriend
11. 5050
12. AllBabestation*
13. Mr Motivator*
14. Sandtimer*

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‘Wishbone’ was born from the emotional whiplash that comes with chasing ambition, while grappling with expectation. “It’s about loving something that doesn’t love you back, chasing a carrot on a stick until it completely unravels you to the point of losing your head.” SOFY states of the tune. She continues, sharing that the tune was “one of the first songs we wrote when we started working on this new era of music and setting the tone for the project, so it really captures the raw feeling I had at the time. Musically it’s a bit of a jump away from stuff you’ve heard from me before. It’s quite dark, so it feels like a bit of a statement.”

‘Wishbone’ arrives alongside a twisted, tongue-in-cheek horror video, presenting SOFY as a serial killer stalking the halls of a haunted house. “I went into this writing period feeling as though I had nothing to lose, which we portrayed in the music video by casting me as a serial killer maniac in a haunted house. That was fun, although I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since to be honest.” She jests. “I wanted the music video to feel as detached from reality as I did when I wrote the song.”

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Encouraging her listeners to confront their deepest thoughts, ‘mine’ addresses the “what ifs?” in your life. Pushing you to put your best foot forward, SOFY admits her true feelings to a fellow love interest in this irresistible and infectious listen. Anchored with electric guitars and a head-bopping chorus, SOFY’s lilting toplines and angelic tone glide effortlessly over the guitar laden production.

When asked about the single, SOFY commented, “‘mine’ is a confession, the first time that the feelings hinted at in the first three songs of the project are tentatively admitted – ‘kinda think it’d be better, if you were mine’. It’s about facing all the ‘what ifs’ and confronting your emotions because that’s less scary than keeping those feelings to yourself and wondering what would have happened if you’d done things differently. Musically it feels kind of desperate and frantic but lyrically it remains quite tentative, which I think matches the enormous emotions (anxiety, fear, excitement) that go into admitting your feelings for someone for the first time – ‘if stars ever aligned then maybe you’d be mine?’”

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The announcement arrives into out-stretched fingers and welcoming arms as SOFY’s army of rats continues to grow into cult-like status, and the buzz around her name is starting to turn into a national sonic stir. The Chaos & Commotion mixtape will be a nod to her previous two EP’s Bored In Colour (Pt.1) and Bored In Colour (Pt.2), but will stand as a 9-track opus demonstrating the incredible artistic evolution of SOFY and the creative confidence instilled by the rewards she has reaped from earlier releases.

Spearheading the announcement, single ‘Ashley Cole Type Beat’ delivers the attitude of Kate Nash with the zest of a Beck track. Symbolic of SOFY’s innate ability to synergise the old with the new, the track is a single-handed serving of forward thinking nostalgia, that sets a very promising precedence for the mixtape to follow. Capturing this, the official music video offers a space for this attitude to come alive, as SOFY gets a chance to turn, what looks like your parents kitchen, into complete chaos and commotion.

Speaking on ‘Ashley Cole Type Beat’, SOFY explains; “’Ashley Cole Type Beat’ is one of the most playful tracks on the mixtape, it’s about hedonism, giving in to temptation and basically being a bit of a dickhead but being totally unapologetic about it – ‘Coz I’m a reckless driver, got no self control, when you’re a semi – pro liar, life’s an open goal ’. I love writing songs like this, where you can just totally lean into a character or an aspect of personality that you wouldn’t usually tap into in everyday life (coz you’d have no frie nds) – it’s like letting the devil on your shoulder write a song for you. It’s such a fun song, and I feel like the production really leans into that as well, it’s got that in – your – face almost playground – esque taunting feeling to it that matches the lyrics really well.”

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‘supermarket’ is a delightful continuation of SOFY’s love-story – from wearing their socks to bed, to waiting outside of their supermarket. Where ‘socks’ details the excitement of a new relationship, juxtaposing this, ‘supermarket’ details the dissolution of one.

Speaking on ‘supermarket’, SOFY candidly explains; “‘supermarket’ is probably my favourite song on this project, there’s something really special about it for me. It’s about that sick to your stomach, spinning out of control, full body feeling you get when you realise the door of a relationship is closed for good, and how someone’s new beginnings mark something else’s ending-‘you’ve got your head on her shoulder, guess it’s finally over’. It starts off soft and feels almost like a lullaby in the first verse with the wurlitzers and acoustic guitar, but then it opens up into this soaring chorus and post before finishing off super softly and intimately again. It sounds proper cliche but I really feel like the journey of the track fully encompasses all the spectrum of emotions that you feel when something ends-sadness to desperation to frustration and then finally to closure.”

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yeule has announced a new LP, softscars, coming out on September 22 via Ninja Tune. It follows 2022’s great Glitch Princess, and features previously released single ‘sulky baby.’ They produced it with Kin Leonn, and Mura Masa and Chris Greatti contributed initial production. About the project, yeule says: “I took the metaphor of the scar to represent each song, and each scar remains soft. Whether you’re healing from emotional trauma or a physical wound, time never heals a scar completely. There’s no more pain, but you can still see the mark afterward. I have a deep feeling that the things my ancestors went through got passed down; there’s some trauma that just sticks. There was always decay and distortion in my life, there’s always been something wrong or ugly. So the scar reminds me that I’m being protected, and I should protect myself.” The newest taste from softscars is double single ‘dazies’ b/w ‘fish in the pool,’ the latter of which is a cover of a piece from Japanese film Hana and Alice. ‘dazies’ contrasts with loud, distorted guitars under wispy vocals. [via Brooklyn Vegan]

Daphne Guinness releases new single ‘Hip Neck Spine’ via the independent label Agent Anonyme Recordings. Her first new music in three years, ‘Hip Neck Spine’ is lifted from Daphne’s forthcoming new album Sleep, due for release late 2023. It’s accompanied by an official video directed by the visionary photographer and director Nick Knight of SHOWStudio. Layering an art-pop edge to her melding of ‘80s electronica reference points, ‘Hip Neck Spine’ finds Daphne Guinness embracing a new-found immediacy. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the track’s strings scored by all-time great Tony Visconti (who also produced her previous three albums) the title and part of its initial production comes from the construction of samples made by the sound of Guinness’ own hip, neck and spine recorded impromptu during a chiropody session. Says Daphne; “I always put my whole being into everything I do, but in this case I needed to use my body as well as my voice! ‘Hip Neck Spine’ emerged in two takes – it’s a call to have a good time, engaging the body and the beat.” Speaking about the video, Nick Knight says; “When I first heard ‘Hip Neck Spine’ I felt it was a very modern vision but based in futuristic visions from the past. I looked at classic futuristic references such as Metropolis, Man Ray and Grace Jones. We worked with Daphne’s unique and incredible fashion collection to film over 25 iconic looks from great designers such as Alexander McQueen, Chanel and Azzedine Alaïa, all transformative looks creating Daphne a different character for each section of the song.” Daphne adds: “As far as I know this video has the most costume changes of any pop promo ever made! I had to change every 2 – 4 bars throughout the song. It was an exercise in visiting some of my previous incarnations and to work with Alex Fury who bravely ventured into the depths of my archive. Watching it back is great fun – We really cover a lot of ground! It’s an epoch shifting extravaganza in costume – from Metropolis to Marchesa Casati to beyond Blade Runner. There is so much detail you can watch it again and again and still see new things.”

Billie Eilish’s contribution to the Barbie soundtrack is out there in the world. Billie Eilish recorded her new song ‘What Was I Made For?’ with her brother and regular collaborator Finneas. It’s a soft, breathy ballad that seems to take the movie’s plot literally. Eilish sings about being unsure about her purpose in the universe: “Taking a drive, I was an ideal/ Looked so alive, turns out I’m not real/ Just something you paid for.” In the self-directed video, a newly blonde and prim Eilish sits at a desk and pulls out doll versions of her old outfits, but things keep interrupting her: an earthquake, a windstorm, a downpour. [via Stereogum]

Following the resounding success of her highly acclaimed EP, Bored In Colour (Pt.2), the vivacious pop songstress SOFY, is back in the spotlight with a fresh release for her yearning fans, also known as her ‘rats’. Titled ‘socks,’ this vibrant track wastes no time in captivating listeners with its pulsating drums and electrifying guitar riffs, setting an energetic tempo from the start. SOFY’s exuberant vocals take center stage, brimming with an infectious energy that is impossible to contain. As the rhythm builds, an irresistible surge of vitality permeates the air, leading up to an irresistibly catchy chorus: “Blue skies every morning/when I’m wearing your socks to sleep in.” A bass drop slices through the whimsical 80s-inspired melody, propelling ‘socks’ into the realm of dancefloor anthems, tailor-made for the vibrant soundtracks of poolside soirees, summer BBQ’s, and spirited festivals. SOFY’s unparalleled ability to merge infectious melodies and with anthemic choruses, yields a musical creation that bursts forth with uncontained energy and euphoria. As described by SOFY herself: “‘socks’ is a full blown indie love song. It’s about falling when you least expect it, and not realising that something was missing from your life until it appears and suddenly everything you see and do feels different – ‘love songs used to make me laugh, ‘til I met you.’ I got the idea for it when, a couple of months after meeting someone, I noticed I’d been wearing his socks to bed for a week. I then realised I was completely head over heels in love with him and that there was probably a song in there somewhere – about how love somehow hits you slowly and all at once at the same time. I wanted the production to feel cinematic and euphoric to match that feeling, with big guitar riffs and drums and atmospheric, dreamy synths.”

Fast rising artist Emei continues her upward trajectory with the reveal of razor sharp alt-pop single, ‘Cynical’. Arriving with a Tim Burton-esque music video directed by Aser, the track is an off-kilter blast of vibrant pop, Emei’s skyreaching vocals decorating a bed of transformative beats to create a startling statement of intent. The video, a fever dream set in a Los Angeles stately home decorated with wonky mirrors and hanging old fashioned phones, perfectly captures the beautifully erratic nature of the track. Speaking on the release, Emei states: “When I met Aser Santos on the set of my ‘That Girl’ music video, I knew instantly we had chemistry through the camera. Our creative visions have always aligned for my music and it is with sincere excitement and giddiness to show the world our baby, the ‘Cynical’ music video. The moment I wrote this song, I knew it was my title track and I knew it needed a dramatic and ridiculous music video. The song has always been my favorite to play live so of course, a moshpit was a must. We then landed on an aesthetic inspired by Tim Burton and this video became everything I’ve wanted and more. Welcome to the title track of my EP. Welcome to the world of Cynical.”

Havanna Winter, the groundbreaking singer, actress and famed TikTok influencer known for her versatility, has released a new music video for her latest single ‘Tornado.’ The track is a reminder to not allow insecurities and false hope, brought on by people who don’t have the best intentions, to throw you off your path. Havanna talks about staying strong and recognizing genuine gestures, so we don’t deter from doing what’s best for ourselves. The video was directed by Éli Sokhn, and produced by Laith Souqi, with creative direction by Anette Winter. The clip takes the viewer back to the movie, ‘The Wizard of Oz,’ equipped with Dorothy (played by Havanna) and her friends on the yellow brick road. Just like the legendary film, Havanna and friends embark on a journey where they are lost and trying to find their way back home. They lean into each other for support and realize that strength in unity is what actually enables them to overcome anything. ‘Tornado’ is a story about a girl who goes on an adventure to get her mind off of her toxic ex-boyfriend. She dreams herself away from her heartbroken reality in California to the land of Oz where she reunites with all her friends who she lost contact with while she lost herself in the toxic relationship. They embark on a journey to find each other and themselves again, as they were separated in the dark times. While catching up on lost time, they learn about building strength and courage together. They are faced with different obstacles along the way with several other toxic dangers, but their friendship and support for each other enables them to realize that even if people aren’t always who they pretend to be, together we are strong and can overcome anything. She says, “This project is close to my heart. I think we all know or have come across people who are not genuine or have our best interest in mind sometime in our lives, and this song is made as a reminder not to let our fears and insecurities win, and to remember our own strength, because we can all get a little lost sometimes.” [via Drop the Sunlight]

Claud, the first artist signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory Records, has released their sophomore album, Supermodels, which features lead single ‘Every Fucking Time.’ Along with the album’s release, Claud has unveiled a video for the track ‘A Good Thing,’ produced by Claud and Dan Wilson. And guess what? The video stars Paul Rudd as a frazzled postal worker. It also features Claud enacting something like the plot of Weezer’s ‘Undone (The Sweater Song).’ Here’s what Claud had to say about the video, which was filmed in New York and LA and directed by Christina Xing: “Over the last couple months, I’ve revealed the more intimate parts of Supermodels, but now I’m really excited for everyone to hear the windows down radio up moments of my album. Songs like ‘A Good Thing’ and ‘Paul Rudd’ capture an anthemic, everything works out in the end type feeling. That’s why I had to have Paul Rudd in the music video for ‘A Good Thing.’ I met him briefly in passing at a Taylor Swift concert and explained that there was a song on my upcoming album named after him, and he so generously gave me his email asking to hear it. In the email I explained that ‘Paul Rudd’ and many other songs on the record are about me trying to imagine myself as a cool and confident person similar to the types of characters he plays, in contrast to the real-life shy and nervous person I often am. Filming this music video really pushed me out of my shell in a lot of ways, as did making this album. I hope you like Supermodels as much as Paul Rudd and I do!” [via Stereogum]

Tessa Violet is back with a new album, MY GOD!. In the ‘BAD BITCH’ music video she wears a vinyl pink gown with two silk trains that attach to her hands, and is attended by a troupe of backup dancers. She is commanding, a “bad bitch,” and an artist who has come into her full bloom. The simpler beats of Bad Ideas have matured into the more complex production and flexible melodies we hear in ‘BAD BITCH,’ and her lyrics, which once journaled her feelings of lostness, insecurity, and fleeting emotions, are now aspirational and confident (“I’m a bad bitch baby, I don’t care”). According to the song, she “used to be a little bitch.” Now, as the cover of MY GOD! shows, she is poised with her hands in prayer, tears of jewels frozen on her cheeks, looking upwards, as golden rays beam from her. She seems ready to be deified, and the album, the recording of her journey, seems to suggest that this is her apotheosis, her culmination, her true coming-of-age. Tessa explains of the track: “I had been on a stretch of writing sad breakup songs, and I was like, okay, enough sad songs. I’m tired of writing about being sad and heartbroken. I want to write about how amazing I am. And at that point, a part of me was like, maybe this could be true, but I was like, what if this is manifesting it. And it was another year and a half until that song came out. Once it was out, I was like, yes, she’s a bad bitch. I wrote ‘BAD BITCH’, because I’m like, fuck yeah. It was a lot about the experience of self within the music industry. When I was first starting out, before ‘Crush’ came out, people in the industry did not get or believe in me. They just didn’t see my potential. And that was fine. I didn’t even take that personally. One time, I had a meeting with a potential manager, and they’re like, what size venues do you want to play? And I was like, arenas. And they’re like, okay, but like realistically. And I was like, okay, I can take that personally, or I can just say you just don’t have the vision to see my potential and that’s fine. Like, why would you? I’m playing to twenty people every day. After releasing ‘YES MOM’ and that being my biggest release, I’m like, I want to write a song all about how great I am. They said I couldn’t do it, I did it anyway. And now they’re trying to sign me, labels wine and dine me. keep your money safe, and get behind me.” [via Ladygunn]

PVRIS has released her album EVERGREEN via Hopeless Records. To celebrate its release she has dropped the new video for latest single ‘I Don’t Wanna Do This Anymore.’ Directed by Jax Anderson and Gunnulfsen, the video ties together the previously released visuals from the album, calling back to “arresting images like Lynn split between nature and a synthetic world, and Lynn battling internal distress and conflict. With visualizers launching for every song on the album, Gunnulfsen shares a unique companion piece, immersing fans into the world of EVERGREEN,” a press release describes. [via genre is dead!]

K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE have released their first-ever English single, titled ‘I Do’. ‘I Do’ is the girl group’s first release in partnership with 88rising. It comes shortly after a new partnership between the Asian-focused music company and the girl group’s label CUBE Entertainment, per Billboard. In the music video for ‘I Do’, the members of (G)I-DLE play an extraterrestrial who crash lands on Earth. She meets a kind stranger who takes her in, and the pair soon fall in love. However, the duo are being chased down by mysterious men in hazmat suits, and are later cornered in a deserted warehouse. In order to save her love, the extraterrestrial uses her magic powers and sacrifices herself. “Don’t you go falling in love / Trust me she’s not the one / She won’t ever love you like I do / Hold you like I do / Know you like I do,” the girl group sing on the chorus of ‘I Do’. [via NME]

London’s Matilda Mann has unveiled the title track of her new EP You Look Like You Can’t Swim. Having spent the last couple of years expanding on her folk influences and delicately crafted soundscapes, the singer-songwriter now lives in her own lane of alternative originality – showing versatility at every turn, while never settling in one style for too long. Her new EP is perhaps her most moving to date – featuring the previously heard ‘The Day I Met You’ and ‘In Plain Sight’. Driven by emotion, it’s intimate and pared back – shining a spotlight on her honest lyrics and soft vocals. Much like the rest of the EP, the title track has been created with a light touch, soft acoustic melodies and folk vulnerability embellished with yearning strings. She has said of the EP: “The songs were all written so sincerely and honest, that I wanted them to be simple and stripped, with the right arrangement, to give the lyrics their moment. This is my favorite project I’ve ever worked on and feels like everything I want to say”. [via Tenement TV]

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Packing SOFY’s most dynamic vocal performance to date, ‘Egomaniac’ shelves her hip-hop influences in trade for a punchy indie-pop rhythm, brilliantly paired with loose, conversational verses and upbeat chorus’ – a contrast which gives the release a sense of unpredictability and excitement throughout.

Talking on the inspiration behind the track, SOFY explains; “’Egomaniac’ is a breakup revenge anthem, inspired by the cult 00s film John Tucker Must Die (if John Tucker was a 5ft10 softboi from Hackney). Written from the perspective of breaking up with a narcissist, the song is about looking back and reflecting on a toxic relationship after it’s over, and seeing all the red flags that were missed at the time (‘say love is blind til it’s over, you’ll never see yourself the way that I can see ya’). It’s been one of my favourite songs to play on the festival circuit this summer so I’m really excited for it to finally be yours!!”

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Landing amidst SOFY’s debut festival season, which has seen her overspill tents across some of the biggest UK festivals, including the iconic Glastonbury, Truck Festival, Latitude, Boardmasters and The Great Escape, the track has already resonated across euphoric crowds chanting back another chorus of anthemic potential.

Echoing the woozy nonchalance of her debut EP Bored in Colour (Pt.1), ‘Big Talk’is just as effortlessly cool in its delivery as SOFY meanders around conversations of small talk on dating apps, with her signature sarcastic undertone permeating the mundane exchanges that often take place in the early stages.

In her own words, SOFY explains; “‘Big Talk’was inspired by my time in the wilderness of dating apps, trying to find meaningful connection but getting bummed out by small talk that never goes anywhere. I think we all need a bit more ‘Big Talk’in our lives”

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