One artist capturing the relatable zeitgeist in modern love is London-based singer-songwriter Sonia Stein. Her track “Party’, taken from her brand new EP “See Me Now”, explores Stein’s own experiences with ghosting, the subsequent frustration, and the pain of letting someone go.
And the EP is an impressive catalogue of soaring pop, showcasing her introspective songwriting and heartfelt lyricism. Love. Travels. Cultures. Experiences. All poetically laid out for the listener. No doubt, one to watch for 2020.
We caught up with Stein below…
Hi Sonia, how are you? How is lockdown treating you?
Hi! I’m doing pretty well! Lockdown has had its ups and downs but mostly its been alright for me I can’t complain.
How is it affecting your creativity?
I think it’s actually made me more excited than ever to release and write new music. It’s also opened up this whole new world of communicating with my followers through live streaming which I am finding really energising and inspiring.
How was it going on tour with Dido? How did you first get approached for it – and what was your highlight?
I actually found out I was going on tour with Dido about 5 days before the tour started while I was in India getting a yoga teacher training certification so it felt extremely surreal and I had to make a very drastic and quick transition from that to suddenly sleeping somewhere new every night and performing for big crowds. It was an amazing experience, I loved being able to sing so often and to such lovely responsive people. Dido was so kind and supportive as well.
Congratulations on your EP “See Me Now” – what were your main inspirations behind it?
Thank you! It’s actually a collection of songs written at such different periods of my life. I would say each song is its own little world inspired by what was happening at the time for me – from a brand new relationship, to navigating codependency, to trying to reconcile being an artist with being a product. All kinds of feelings.
And you’ve talked about how your travels to New York, Berlin and Poland, as well as your home London has influenced your music – would you mind talking a little about this – is it in regards to the people that you’ve met?
My answer to this question is always rather ambiguous because, yes I am certain that it has but I also find it very hard to pinpoint how and where exactly. I think every experience shapes us and I probably am who I am and express myself the way I do as a result of everywhere I have been and all the people I have met. Speaking a couple of languages also probably influences the way I write lyrics but that is also quite a subconscious process that’s hard to track.
