Sophie Strauss is a a rising, Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter and pop artist, who identifies as a successful queer child bride and a struggling indie musician. “Gone,” Strauss’ latest single is a swooning pop song centered around atmospheric synths, blasts of shimmering, reverb drenched guitars, dramatic yet propulsive drumming, an enormous and rousing hook and the Los Angeles-born pop artist’s achingly plaintive vocals.

While sounding as though it could be a part of the soundtracks for a John Hughes rom-com or Stranger Things, the song finds Strauss pushing the creative and thematic boundaries of her songwriting — with the song being one of her first truly love songs; a love song that’s a sigh of elation, full of the understanding that finding love can be extremely difficult.  

“’Gone’ is a new kind of song for me — it’s my first real love song.” Strauss explains in press notes. “There’s this mythology that artists need to be in miserable turmoil to create anything good, and though I’ve always believed that to be bullshit, it was nice to be able to try disproving it myself. Not that the world is short on misery to tap into right now, but being really fucking in love was a neat new place to write from and, especially right now, seemed like a small avenue for some much-needed romance and escapism while we’re all stuck inside.”

Directed by Gregory J.M. Kasunich, the recently released and incredibly cinematic video for “Gone” emphasizes the song’s swooning and nostalgic-tinged vibes: featuring Strauss and her husband Brendan Stephan, the video begins with Strauss’ character in a miserable, loveless relationship that she’s desperate to escape. Seemingly on a whim, she runs out of her house to a local tattoo shop, where she meets a tattoo artist, who immediately catches her attention. The pair begins a love affair in which both parties are swept off their feet with youthful passion and abandon. It’s a much-needed bit of escape and longing for sweetness in a bleak world.