Sonia makes nocturnal production her own on ‘SONIA EP 1’

SONIA puts her ability to be rough, yet perfectly polished into the limelight on her debut EP ‘SONIA EP 1’. Confessional and intricate, the singer uses the four tracks to blend stripped back, sparse sonics with dense trap-beat production to capture her musical adaptability. “I love the concept of duality, which reflects in my music through contrasting ideas in lyrics and sounds: darkness versus light, temptation versus virtue,’ says SONIA. 

Commencing track Joyride begins with mellow guitar, escalating into a milder sonic, framing her gentle and endearing tone. Co-produced and co-written by Black Atlass, the track narrates to listeners a personification of SONIA’s demons. The singer’s angelic and swift vocals are matched with the pure, natural landscape featured in the music video. 

Augmenting the sound of the EP is Games. A creative partnership with PJ sees SONIA pour her vulnerabilities out as she addresses her first heartbreak. Chronicling betrayal and confusion, SONIA sings, “why you wanna take me up so high/then leave me sinking?” with a sincere sensitivity and fragility in her voice. To SONIA “everyone has experienced darkness, but I try to see it with another angle. It’s okay to feel this way. We can celebrate beautiful sadness as a part of existence”. 

I Don’t Know features SONIA contemplating the future of a relationship, and the painful decisions that need to be made to move forward over a guitar riff turned weighty, produced beat. Frank and confessional, the bridge encapsulates SONIA at her most delicate, as she sings “I should be running from the past/But I just keep on coming back” in a subdued manner. 

Closing track Dark History gives a final glimpse of the singer’s endeavour into the dark, antagonistic pop stratosphere. Highlighting the difficulty of grasping onto a lost connection, SONIA concludes the EP with the powerful final line “you’ll come back around for me like karma”. A hard-hitting finish, embodying a merciless aura in SONIA highlights her ability to weld polarity in its sincerest form.