Sofie will release her debut full-length record, Cult Survivor, in June on Stones Throw.

Cult Survivor was written as a direct response to Sofie’s difficult personal experiences. After an abrupt breakup and a serious illness in the family, she moved home to Vienna, Austria, and she began isolating from her musical community. This inspired her to begin writing her own songs.

“In Vienna, I was suddenly so secluded, no longer surrounded by the musical world I was so embedded in, that it forged the way for my creativity,” she says. “I’m not sure this would have happened had I stayed in Los Angeles, I don’t know if I’d have had the courage, or not felt like it was superfluous.” In touch with Peanut Butter Wolf having worked for Stones Throw, Sofie started to send him demos, which eventually led to her finishing a record and being asked to release it on the label.

You can hear these experiences across “Asleep,” the album’s lead single, “written about the inevitable feeling that accompanies pursuing something, from a meaningless crush to an existence choice, something you know is a dead end; which as inane as it is, will ultimately always be better in your head or imagination rather than reality.” It’s about “trying to stay on that precipice of fantasy between being awake and unconscious,” Sofie explains.

Surrounded by classical music from a young age, Sofie started learning the violin at just four years old. She continued playing through her teens but ended up in London where she became an integral member of the growing Boiler Room team and an NTS Radio resident DJ. She also worked at Stones Throw for four years.

You can read more about Sofie with her XLR8R podcast here.

Tracklisting

01. Hollywood Walk of Fame
02. 99 Glimpses
03. Asleep
04. Try To Reach Me
05. Guest
06. Figueroa
07. Baby
08. Truth Of The Matter
09. Georgia Waves
10. High Time Now
11. Interlude
12. Happen 2 B There

Cult Survivor LP is out on vinyl and digitally on June 26. Meanwhile, you can pre-order here and stream “Asleep” in full below.