Pop has long been burdened with the cursed tag of “uncool”, perhaps the result of one too many artist’s abuses of double denim or, lest we forget, the “Friday” track that haunted all of our nightmares back in 2011. However, the times they are a-changing and the emergence of lighthearted pop with a wholehearted message, from powerhouses like Lorde and Charli XCX, has made it fully okay to embrace your penchant for chart-toppers, much to the joy of Sonia Stein.

“It’s not a shameful thing to be a pop singer-songwriter anymore!” The singers laughs down the phone. “My songwriting has always been very pop and I shied away from that at the beginning because I felt like when I first moved to London I needed to be a bit more cool. Now I’m like, ‘Actually, fuck it! This is the way I’ve always been.’”

Starting to write music when she was 15 years old, Stein travelled all around the world before falling in love with the capital’s music scene and eventually settling in Shoreditch. “My perspective on the world is different because I lived in loads of places,” Stein explains. “It makes my songwriting my own style, but I never think about it while I’m writing like, ‘Oh, I’m writing this because I used to live in Poland!’”

Since calling the UK her home, she’s found her sound in irresistible pop jams, full of pulsating 80s influences and ear-worm melodies. Writing fiercely relatable songs, her recent cuts — which are all part of an upcoming EP — range from worries about a relationship falling apart in “Do You Love Me?”, to that all too familiar feeling of planning your wedding after meeting someone for the first time in “Prettiest Boy in London Town”. We’ve all been there.

Pinning her album release for late 2018, Stein is holed away penning more tracks to soundtrack the relatable day-to-day. “I have so many songs I’ve written over the last two or three years that I definitely don’t want to forget about,” she says, “but also when I release the new album I want to feel like it’s all new material, at least for me.” Until then, you’ll have to make do with Stein serenading your daily commute Tube crush from the safety of your headphones and watching her stunning brand new vid for “MUSE” (premiering today!) on repeat.

Taken from the Spring 2018 Issue; out now and available to buy here.