Maija Sofia conjures music out of the periphery. Risen outside of the usual mainstream trends or preoccupations, Sofia’s music commands your attention with spellbinding world-building and abstract expressionism. True Love’s dreamlike bedding plays the perfect backdrop for the artist’s striking sonic shapes and gothic tones.
There’s always something deeper hidden layer found within Sofia’s work. The ominous feeling that contrasts with the glistening harps of ‘Saint Sebastian’ captures True Love’s sense of depth and scale. The music’s darkly lit gothic corners creep further and further into both the song and the album itself.
Indeed, True Love is an album where Maija Sofia’s presence commands the stage. In songs like ‘Four Winters’, Sofia’s performance weaves a tale with precision, giving added pathos and conviction to already powerful lines like “I’m going out tonight, I’ll wear the dress that I was raped in. I’m not frightened anymore, I’m not scared of anything. I’m going out tonight, I’ll wear the dress that I was changed in”. This plays into Sofia’s ability to weave unflinching meaning within the musically rich scope of her music previously seen in debut album Bath Time.
Throughout True Love, both the music and lyrics play in tandem. The mood and performance inform one another. From the floating feel of ‘Chagall’ to the off-kilter waltz of ‘Lake Song’ and the slow-burn flickering of ‘O Theremin’, Sofia crafts vignettes for each tale whilst also adding to the sonic and thematic arc of True Love itself.
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True Love is an album where Maija Sofia’s presence commands the stage
‘Telling the Bees’ is where True Love hits its zenith. Melding all the tones and shapes that make the album so captivating into a breathless four minutes, ‘Telling the Bees’ is Maija Sofia’s best work to date within an album that holds the same title. Alive with invention and meaning, the song encapsulates everything great about the artist and the album.
And so it goes, True Love is a conjuring of entangled tales through music and performance. Each song stands on its own two feet while also playing its part in the greater piece. Powerful, captivating and uncompromising, True Love is a mirror of its creator.
