SOPHIE // Oil of Every Pearl's Un-insides (Transgressive)

#21

After seeing her recently Whole New World/ Immaterial really stand out confidently as bangers with the live context.

In general really enjoyed the album. I really liked “Not Okay” but wish it was twice as long so it could keep developing

#22

Just sat through the album stream on YouTube finally and holy fucking shit this album.

I’ve never heard an album where the first 5 tracks of it (i.e. just over halfway through the damn thing) are so wonderful and perfectly solid? Like this thing just repeatedly hits the spot every single time. The moment where it sort of dropped off for me was “Pretending”. It’s a lovely track on its own for sure (if a bit Paulstretch-y at parts) but it goes on for just a tad too long within the space of the album and creates this bizarre pause halfway through the constant one-two flow of bangers.

However, much as I feel it outstays its welcome a bit, its still an absolutely fantastic album overall and will very easily place within the top 3 of my aoty list this year, without a doubt. Repeatedly I was bowled over by how gorgeous and beautiful it is. If anyone is reading this and still isn’t sure about it: trust me, give this album a go. It’s worth your time.

#23

I like that it sounds like 2000s r&b from hell

#24

I mean…holy fucking shit (SOME PARTS OF) this album. let’s not get carried away…:wink:

was/still am a big fan of the early singles. definitely appreciate the artistic growth here on the full-length; not sure if I would say there’s any sort of progression w/r/t artistic maturity, as the content seems regressive/borderline vapid and narcissistic.

part of me likes how utterly weird and unique it is but part of me wishes SOPHIE would go full Sia and just write for other artists…

I think “Infatuation” is my fave track so far…

#25

SOPHIE has been doing nothing but producing for other artists in between this album and PRODUCT. There are definitely tracks on here that would slot in nicely alongside PRODUCT (Immaterial, Faceshopping etc) but there’s also a lot of new ground being stepped into here; a more tender and sensitive side that hasn’t been revealed before. “Is It Cold In The Water?” and “Infatuation” are absolutely stunning tracks that are quite possibly the most genuine things she’s ever created. The real problem is that her entire aesthetic and style has been established as the overly fake/vapid pop style a la PC Music since she started, and it continues into this album whilst mingling with the more “real” sounding stuff, thus blurring facts with falsity.

I did get a little carried away with my initial post there and I need to sit down with it a second time to truly analyse how I feel towards it honesty, but currently I’m still very much in the “this is pretty gosh darn great” camp.

#26

@avery that’s what I’m saying. like, I guess I just don’t know how much I really need SOPHIE the “Pop Star” in my life. kind of thinking I’d much rather hear some of these tunes sung by a consummate vocalist, instead of getting the uncanny valley version.

the alien artificiality of the early singles (and the whole PC catalog) is half of what made them charming in the first place. layering on the personal/tender qualities in the attempt to make “proper tunes” by a “proper pop star” suck the interest right out of it for me. this is just my personal take…

#27

Yeah, I see what you mean, that’s fair. Personally I disagree, but hey, opinions is opinions. Nice to hear the other side of things every so often, after all!

#28

Despite not being huge on “It’s OK To Cry” to begin with, I’ve grown to find it quite affecting. Not saying that I would want it to be the dominant sound or anything, but in moderation it adds a new tension/dynamic to her sound. (Although I was always gonna be down for this because my favourite tune off Product is Just Like We Never Said Goodbye).

Maybe I’ve just got sucked into external factors like Sophie coming out as trans, but the album feels very queer and futuristic to my ears and I really like that. By having the more genuine pop tracks, the album encapsulates the euphoria and vulnerability of the queer experience, as well as the extremely uncomfortable and discordant moments.

I feel like I have more to say but I am really struggling with wording. Might return to this later.

#29

I’m really enjoying this and it’s good to see all the buzz for it. It’s definitely a unique approach and realised so well. Want to see it live now and wonder if there’ll be any more videos soon. Something that stuck out to me though is that the singles are all bunched together at the start. Does anyone else find that a bit weird? It’s almost like those tracks never fully sit in sequence with the rest of the tracks because they’re in their own section at the start. It looks like Low are doing a similar thing with Double Negative where all three preview tracks so far are the first three tracks on the album. Definitely hope it’s not a new trend in sequencing and promo.

Animal Collective // Tangerine Reef (Domino)
#30

oooh, yeah, about that…

sadly, I think if you look at the evidence regarding dwindling attention spans (also alluded to here), you’ll recognize that, if the above-mentioned phenomenon does in fact become a trend, it won’t come as a huge surprise.

#31

Really looking forward to seeing this live in September

#32

I adore this album - it’s an emotional rollercoaster, fun to dance to and has fricking sensual sound design+detail.

No other recent releases that I’ve heard are hitting the spot for me as much as Sophie is at the mo’.

#33

“In a new interview with MondoSonoro, she says that she has her next album finished and plans to release four albums in total before the end of the year.”

#34

Holy shit, pulling a King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard move. Good shit.

#35

Woah what. Very interested. I just came here to post that after the initial hype I cooled on it a bit, but it has settled into regular rotation now. It’s so defiantly queer.

#36

I know I’m kind of reviving a dead thread but I finally decided to sit down and listen to this and all I wanna say is that it reminds me of Kid A and that it’s Album of the Fucking Year No Contest

#37

kinda irrelevant but just another emo trans poppin’ up with a remix i forgot i had done of a sophie track ::
shameless self plug lol

#38

ok finally giving it a listen, on first go it’s a winner…not a big fan of the first track but the next two CRUSH me ina real good way

if i were to go back in time with SOPHIE what do folks recommend? other good tracks/collabs/works?

#39

guess that was all a bunch of hype :roll_eyes:

#40

we still got 11 days left in the year tho. would be a nice gift from Mother Christmas :wink: