Few things irk me more than a perfectly agreeable Spotify listening session that is ruined because an inane algorithm decides that it knows what I want to listen to more than I do. Too often, have The Rolling Stones been succeeded by their lesser Liverpudlian counterparts and literally every indie band ever followed by Oasis. That said, about a year ago the algorithm in question did the unthinkable. It coughed up an absolute gem. Specifically, it coughed up a song called ‘WET PAINT’ by Sofy and I have never looked back.
To me, SOFY’s music is a most spectacular collision of the past, present and future all at once and her latest single ‘Front Seat Honey’ is no exception. Never one to shy away from big guitars and a sing it with your chest chorus, SOFY has left us with a track oozing in that 00s swagger. The kind that brings artists like Lilly Allen, The Kooks and Kate Nash to the forefront of your mind in the most endearing way. Now a 00s throwback is all well and good but a cynic (like me) could quite justifiably argue that such acts are ten a penny. And they’d be right.
The UK is hardly short of young adults with electric guitars attempting to relive the cultural moment of twenty years ago and alas for many it doesn’t work. But SOFY is different. The gist of the song may be good, old fashioned lust but her unique lyricism exhibits a wholly unique and culturally relevant voice that I for one, have been pining for. From the get go, the opening line “I’ve known the colour of your coffee since we were twenty two” makes a big thing of the little things, a theme that runs through this track (and all her tracks) like a stick of rock and is why I think her music resonates so perfectly. The balance of relentlessly sincere lyricism and an almost nonchalant delivery allows the track a level of humour that I feel is often neglected these days yet is the very thing that makes SOFY’s music so endlessly relatable.
‘Front Seat Honey’ is the final single to arrive before SOFY’s “Another Day In Paradise” EP which is by far and away my most anticipated release of the year. Since stumbling across her last year I have been completely obsessed and cannot wait to catch her on her headline tour in April. If you’re seeing her at Headrow House in April, I’ll see you at the front.
Written by Iwan Grant
