(2023) Sofie Winterson - Southern Skies
Review:
Rarely does an album come along oozing with potential where each song could be a massive hit in itself. Such an album is the latest full-length Southern Skies by the artist Sofie Winterson, set to be released this Friday, June 9 via Excelsior Recordings. Southern Skies is Sofie’s follow-up to her sophomore record, Sofia Electric, which features more of an electronic studio production focus. These latest batches of songs see Sofie heading in a mature songwriting direction, where driving tempos and guitar melodies provide support for emotional and tender lyrics. In the album’s opener, “Hours,” Sofie sings of nostalgia, youthful wonderment, and the slow passage of time over an absolutely funky arrangement of electric guitars, drums, and synths. The bass line is so locked-in that it is nearly impossible to keep your head from bopping to the beat. Right away, the elevated production and airy vocals remind me of other artists such as Japanese Breakfast and Alvvays. However, Sofie still has her own particular vocal delivery and lyrical style that shows maturity in both her songwriting and her work in the studio. Standout songs that make up the middle of the album were previously featured on the single “Lost You To A Boy”, which also included the tracks “Image” and “Jump”. This batch of songs are emotionally charged, dream-pop anthems, where lyrics like “I wish someone would have sung this song before I moved along” and “slowly taking off knowing you don’t fall in love with the reality but the image you’ve got of me” are paired with catchy and upbeat instrumental arrangements. Sofie embraces a more minimal production on the song “Love Me Less”, injected between the trio of songs featured on the single. The clever chord progression, subtle drum machine, and distorted acoustic guitar fit nicely between the album’s more charged up, fully realized backing band, recordings. “Perfect Goodbye” is a fitting ballad of an ender to an already fantastic arrangement of songs. I enjoyed the peeled back production where Sofie’s layered vocals are accompanied by acoustic guitar, electric bass, and a bevvy of synth tones. The aptly, perfect sendoff, of a song bringing a conclusion to the fully cohesive track list. With Southern Skies, Sofie Winterson successfully captures that endearing quality some of the best pop songs around, where truly heartbreaking lyrics are supported by catchy melodies and upbeat rhythm sections. This album is sure to be at the top of your “Summer 2023” playlist. Get lost in the mix, the vocals, and lyrics, and be sure to blast this record at full volume during those late night drives with your loved-ones or newly discovered friends. — theindyreview.com
Track List:
01. Hours
02. Be Bad
03. Lost You to a Boy
04. Here I Stay
05. Image
06. Moral
07. Love Me Less
08. Jump
09. As Alive
10. Perfect Goodbye
Media Report:
Genre: dream-pop, indie-pop
Country: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)
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