Music Talk: SOPHIE and hyperpop

Music Talk is Alachua County Library District's monthly music discussion program. During the first week of each month, we'll post a blog about an artist, genre, or music-related topic. On the fourth Tuesday of each month at 1p.m., we'll meet on Zoom to discuss! ACLD has a fantastic and wide-ranging collection of music cds, music documentaries and concerts, and music-related books, so the sky is the limit to what we can cover! This month we're getting into the music of SOPHIE and similar artists who perform in the genre that's come to be known as hyperpop.

Come back on Tuesday, May 25th at 1 p.m. for our Music Talk Listening Club: SOPHIE and hyperpop on Zoom.

Background

SOPHIE was a performer and producer who combined the earworm catchiness of pop music with subtly disorienting rhythms and sound design to create a dizzyingly novel take on dance music. That, along with a queer sensibility and lyrical focus on gender and identity made SOPHIE’s music an early example of, and influence on, the strain of contemporary music that has come to be known as “hyperpop.”

SOPHIE's early singles "BIPP" and "Lemonade" established her as an innovative producer and led to work with artists such as Madonna, Vince Staples, and Charli XCX. SOPHIE’s early singles were collected on the debut album, Product. SOPHIE's excellent 2018 album, Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides, was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance/Electronic Album. SOPHIE tragically died in January 2021, after an accidental fall.

SOPHIE's influence on contemporary pop and dance music can be heard in the work of other artists in the hyperpop genre. Hyperpop is a kind of maximalist take on pop music, where tempos are often over-driven, vocals are pitchshifted up, and musical styles and signifiers are recombined with gleeful abandon. Charli XCX, an actual pop star, is probably the most recognizable name, but artists such as Rico Nasty, 100 Gecs, and A.G. Cook, are breaking through, as well.

Read more about SOPHIE and hyperpop with complimentary access to the New York Times. Just sign in with your library card and create an account.

4 great hyperpop albums

Product by SOPHIE. Bolstering SOPHIE’s electrifying early singles with new material, Product is a showcase of her talents that, at 38 minutes, leaves you wanting more. "BIPP/Elle" and "Lemonade/Hard" are a headrush. Of the new songs, “Vyzee” is terrific and almost serves as a mission statement for hyperpop, marrying bubblegum melodies and a euphoric pre-chorus to burbling, squelching (gastro-intestinal?) synths. Shake it up and make it fizz. “Just Like We Never Said Goodbye” reminds me of an 80’s-era Prince ballad, swapping out the guitar heroics for sweeping synths and stabbing percussion. Highly recommended.

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How I'm feeling now by Charli XCX. Charli XCX is a bona fide hitmaker and pop star, with writing and performing credits on songs such as Icona Pop’s "I Love It" and Iggy Azalea’s "Fancy" as well as her own top ten hit, "Boom Clap." Her proven mainstream success makes it all the more exciting that she has chosen to emphasize her experimental side, working with producers such as PC Music’s A.G. Cook and SOPHIE. Her latest album, How I’m feeling now, was written and produced at home during quarantine and (much like another artist and former tourmate) Charli XCX sounds reinvigorated by the creative freedom afforded when the music industry ground to a halt last year. While modern pop music often sounds focus-group tested for maximum appeal, Charli XCX wins by keeping it intimate, relatable, and weird.

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Sawayama by Rina Sawayama. While 2000s-era pop and rock music doesn’t sound (to my ears) current, exactly, it also doesn’t feel like it was all twenty years ago. Alas, it was, which means that it’s due for a nostalgic revival. Rina Sawayama’s debut album takes the sounds of the early aughts and throws them in a blender. While nu-metal guitars and effervescent Neptunes-style production make strange bedfellows, on tracks such as “XS,” it works, suggesting an alternative, more inclusive, timeline where Xtina and Disturbed hopped on each other's tracks.

I'm all ears by Let's Eat Grandma. While I’m all ears may have more in common with the soaring, anthemic synthpop of CHVRCHES than the kitchen-sink hyperpop of 100 Gecs, this is a fine album that should appeal to fans of either. The SOPHIE-produced track “Hot Pink” is clattering and ferocious, punk music for pop people.

More Music Options

Did you know that with your library card, you can download five free songs every week? And they're yours to keep? Freegal (rhymes with legal) gives you access to millions of songs, including those by hyperpop artists, such as Charli XCX, Rico Nasty, and Hannah Diamond.

Prefer to stream your music? We recommend This is SOPHIE and hyperpop on Spotify and SOPHIE Essentials and SOPHIE: Behind the Boards on Apple Music.

Also, check out our hand-picked Youtube playlist of SOPHIE and hyperpop.

By CameronB on May 24, 2021