Album Review: SOPHIE - PRODUCT
By Jonathan Fuchs, Copy Editor
[Numbers; 2015]
Rating: 4.5/5
Key Tracks: “Bipp,” “Hard,” “Vyzee”
London-based producer SOPHIE has quickly become one of the biggest in the music industry, working on tracks for artists like Le1f, Charli XCX and Madonna, as well as helping create the style of label-slash-collective PC Music with the help of fellow producer A.G. Cook. His earlier singles like “Lemonade” caught the attention of music news outlets like Pitchfork, who called the track one of the best of last year.
PRODUCT, SOPHIE’s highly anticipated debut full-length, is a collection of old and new material that continues his trademark sugar-coated sound. While this album might not be for everybody, it is clear that PRODUCT is an extremely ambitious and important release in the world of dance music.
The album opens with the 2013 track “Bipp” and continues to explore a musical path so sweet you’ll want to brush your teeth after the album is over. The high-pitched vocals and pop synths that appear on almost every song help to further define SOPHIE’s extremely distinct production style.
Two tracks that surprisingly don’t follow this pattern are “MSMSMSM,” a darker song heavily inspired by trap music, and “L.O.V.E.,” a strange track that builds up but never goes anywhere. Both of these songs prove that SOPHIE can still be powerful without clinging to his trademark cavity-inducing sound.
PRODUCT is an extremely important album in modern dance and house music, as it contains some of the catchiest singles of the decade so far. SOPHIE has quickly made a name for himself as one of the greatest producers of the early 21st century with an addicting, sugary and mysterious style that’s unmistakably his.
