Last year, Spanish-born, Berlin-based singer/songwriter Sofi de la Torre quickly became a JOVM mainstay artist. Now, it’s been about a year since I’ve last written about her, so let’s get into a refresher for new and old readers alike: de la Torre began writing songs when she was 14 and after spending a few years in Los Angeles, she relocated to London, where she signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV, and then wrote and recorded a debut full-length album. After the release of her debut effort, de la Torre went through a period of self-discovery and re-invention and started experimenting both with her sound and with new songwriting angles — and the included several new influences and an increasingly contemporary, synth-based pop sound. That period of experimentation directly led to de la Torre’s collaboration with Finnish production/songwriting team Jonas Karlsson and Axel Ehnström, and the critically praised single “Vermilion,” which was featured on The Guardian’s playlist and on Grimes’ blog. The track was then remixed by deep house producers Crom and Thanh and played by Tiesto on his BBC Radio 1 program – adding to an already growing international profile across the European Union.
Since then de la Torre has been rather prolific releasing two EPs That Isn’t You and Mess, both of which critically applauded and received attention across the blogosphere; in fact, at one point Mess steadily climbed the the Hype Machine charts and was featured in Spotify’s Weekend Buzz playlist.
“Sit Down,” de la Torre’s latest single is arguably the boldest, feistiest and most in-your-face song she’s released to date — while being a fresh take on the sound that won her international attention. Comprised of a production that features wobbling and stuttering synths, tweeter and woofer rocking boom bap beats paired with de la Torre’s sultry and swaggering, self-assured vocals the song sound as though it draws from M.I.A.’s incredible work, contemporary electro pop and hip-hop. The recently released music video manages to visually draw from M.I.A.’s work while subtly poking fun at fashion shoots and commercials.
