SOFY - How To Perform Magic SOFY

'How To Perform Magic', the debut album from hotly-tipped Leicester-born songwriter SOFY, out on the 25th of September via independent release.

Written and recorded in Camden with longtime collaborator and bandmate Edward Denholm in total isolation, and later mixed by Mercury Prize-nominated Nathan Boddy (Olivia Dean, Oklou, Nilufer Yanya), How To Perform Magic uses touchstones like Massive Attack, early The xx, and Radiohead. The result is an enchanting blend of trip hop, garage rock, britpop and breakbeats from an artist who refuses to be put in a box, but knows exactly what she wants to say.

The record was written in the midst of intensive digital burnout, mounting industry frustrations, and the heavy emotional rollercoaster that comes with your late 20s. From the outside, all appeared bright, but beneath the surface was burnout, pressure, and a spiralling mental decline.

Catharsis, and a sense of renaissance is a prominent feature in the record. The album traverses themes of dejection, imposter syndrome, and disillusion carried by guitar-led melancholy, dusty breakbeats, reverb soaked vocals and low-slung basslines; in the quintessential SOFY manner, it’s unflinching 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.

Through it all, SOFY sees songwriting as a kind of sorcery; a way of turning an overwhelming and chaotic chapter into something tangible on her own terms. 'How To Perform Magic' stands as a tribute to that transformative power, setting the tone for her largest, most personal chapter yet.