When Utah-hailing alt-pop sensation in-the-making Sophie Blair took to the studio to record her debut project, Arteries, she had an arsenal of forty songs at her disposal so it's no surprise that three months on, we're hearing more from this eager 22-year-old.
The first taste of the next chapter, Flatline, comes by virtue of her tantalising new single, "Are You Thinking About Me??"
Masterfully structured and confidently delivered, "Are You Thinking About Me??" sees Blair take strides forward creatively, despite the short turnaround. From the glitchy opener to the simply produced verses, a less is more approach grants acres of space for her honeyed vocal, which had already owned much of the track's spotlight on its own. The chorus sees her typically emotive lyricism juxtaposed against a buoyant, bordering on uplifting production, which then smoothly dissolves into an ear-worm melody provided by a sampled vocal and perfectly placed saxophone.
Speaking to her writing process in an email statement, she shares that, "Are You Thinking About Me??" was the culmination of my obsession with pop music after years of classical music training. I realized how similar the symphonies I'd played were to the top 40 radio hits I was spinning. In both, there was an intricacy that fascinated me."
Her previous works articulated a vividly relatable snapshot of the often anxiety-riddled excitement that is adolescence and young love, through her crisp classically informed alt-pop lens. "Are You Thinking About Me??" retains the same compelling tone, but sees the message naturally mature, to which she continues, "With this song specifically, I was imagining my typical, compulsive, head-over-heels dive into relationship after relationship with a new backdrop — a beach, champagne, and roses instead of porches, PBRs, and house parties. Articulating that idea: the psychotic, unending rush of a new romantic chase against the soundscape of the articulate hooks I was so in love with felt thrilling."
"Are You Thinking About Me??" is available now via Wonderwild Records.
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