Crushes are supposed to be fun. Until you’re overthinking every conversation, wondering whether they like you back and apparently forgetting how to breathe properly.
That’s the feeling SOPHIE GREY. is taking into her new single Air, which arrives on 28 August.
Built around synths, a driving electronic rhythm and an instantly memorable hook, Air turns the uncertainty of liking someone into something considerably more danceable.
“The hot and cold of a crush, it truly makes me feel like I’m running out of Oxygen… I’m running out of Air,” Sophie explains.
The new single continues the self-described “Retro Electro” sound Sophie has been developing through recent releases Lunar Highs (Hands Go Up) and Cyberspace, bringing together retro influences, synth-pop and electronic production with live instrumentation.
And Sophie is very much involved in creating the whole thing.
A classically trained pianist, she writes, arranges, performs and produces her own music, while the visual world surrounding it has become almost as important as the songs themselves. Bold styling, theatrical performances and even a DJ robot companion all form part of a project that isn’t particularly interested in stopping at simply making pop music.
That visual side continues with the accompanying video for Air, which uses light, colour and movement to play with the energy of the song and the slightly chaotic emotions behind it.
The timing of the release is rather fitting too.
Air arrives on the same day Sophie performs at Manchester Pride Festival, giving the track an immediate opportunity to escape the headphones and find the kind of crowd it feels made for.
It’s another big live moment in a summer that has already seen Sophie sharing bills with some pretty impressive names. She performed alongside Grace Jones at Crystal Palace Bowl and Duran Duran at BST Hyde Park, adding to previous support slots with Sting, Alison Moyet and Shaggy.
There has also been a particularly lovely meeting of old and new influences.
During a recent London performance, Trevor Horn of The Buggles joined Sophie for a duet of Video Killed the Radio Star, allowing one of synth-pop’s most recognisable songs to collide with the “Retro Electro” world she’s creating for herself. Sophie has since performed the cover at London’s G-A-Y too.
Next up after Manchester Pride is a trip across the Atlantic, with Sophie due to perform at Houston Arcade Expo in Texas later this year.
But first comes Air: a song about that confusing point where a crush can make you feel brilliant one minute and completely ridiculous the next.
At least this time, you can dance through it.
Air is released on 28 August.
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