SOKO Critical Soundbites for her debut album:
„I Thought I Was An Alien‟ Out now via Community Music
“SOKO captivates with her unique mix of delicacy and intensity.”
--Beto Vargas, MTV (7/17/13)
“Her music is deceptively sophisticated. Beneath the neu-folk veneer of her debut album, I Thought I Was an Alien, lies lush beds of texture rife with swelling strings, pulsating synthetic drum beats, and reverb-soaked keyboards. There‟s also an undercurrent of melancholia running through the fourteen tracks.” --Evelyn Crowley, VOGUE (6/12/13)
“Touching and strangely beautiful.” --Simmy Richman, THE INDEPENDENT (U.K.)
“Singer-songwriter SOKO crafts impossibly fragile music. This is most apparent in her live performances. Her guitar-playing coats the rhythm of her songs like honey, carefully avoiding the pulse, giving her music the wooziness of Mazzy Star. She modulates her voice between a gingerly sing-song and a forlorn crackle. This isn‟t to say that her frailty is a put-on, but rather that there is a logic to the way she channels art out of her vulnerable heart.”
--Alexis Stephens-MTV (7/17/13)
“…humble yet pretty bedroom pop…”
--Chris Martins, SPIN (6/28)
“SOKO describes herself as a musician first and an actress second. Her debut album, I Thought I Was An Alien (Community Music), on which she plays many of the instruments, has generated acclaim in France and is being released in the U.S. on June 11. It‟s the kind of fragile-yet-forthright, highly personal statement one might associate with Chan Marshall (aka Cat Power) but with a dash of Bjork‟s eccentricities.” --Steve Chagollan, VARIETY, “Star You Should Know” May 29, 2013
“We‟re obsessed with SOKO‟s gritty voice and honest, simple lyrics…” --Kristen Samn, NYLON, (6/11/13)
“Actress-singer-songwriter SOKO possesses a certain mystique that she translates into lo- fi, highly relatable narratives… Her release for Community Music was titled I Thought I Was An Alien, 15 songs that cast the chanteuse as a lovelorn, world-weary social outcast and brimmed with the eclecticism to make them believable.” --Kevin Bronson, BUZZBANDS.LA (6/27/13)
“French actress-turned singer SOKO makes playful music.”-- KCRW-NPR (Los Angeles, CA)
“Some might call it an album for the hopeless romantic; others might be drawn by the love songs‟ raw realness. Nevertheless, SOKO‟s new album is sure to captivate audiences. The singer, musical artist is set to release her new U.S. debut album I Thought I Was An Alien on June 11 (Community Music). With songs relating to that of utter sadness and heartbreak, this album is bound to set your mind in a delicate place. However, count on Soko‟s sweet, sensual voice to take the ache away.” --Amanda D‟Egidio, CAMPUS CIRCLE (6/1/13)
"This is an amazing record by an incredible artist. You should stop reading this now and just listen to it…„Destruction of the Disgusting Ugly Hate‟ is another classic. This is the it song. Listening to it is a seriously guilty pleasure and a wonderfully comical experience: it‟s so utterly infectious with its drum-machiney shuffle and gorgeous, blooming chorus, and the kicker is, you are enjoying this whole experience in the same way you would „Hot Fun in the Summertime,‟ only it's called „Destruction of the Disgusting Ugly Hate.‟ I can‟t think of anywhere where loss has been explored as complexly, masterfully and affectively than in this song, where we are forced into various directions at once by the rhythm, the melody, her voice, the text, etc. It forces me to smile even as I feel I shouldn't. Pop music rarely pulls tricks like this. Brilliant.” -- Stew (of Negro Problem), THE TALKHOUSE (7/15/13)
“SOKO started recording in her bedroom, just a girl with an acoustic guitar and GarageBand. But her debut album, recorded with Elliott Smith collaborator Fritz Michaud, looks beyond... The likes of „For Marlon‟ and „I Just Want To Make New With You‟ have a knack for making sadness sound sweet, and sweetness sad…” --Anne T Donahue, NME (CD review)
“French singer SOKO duets with L.A. lo-fi don Ariel Pink on half-ethereal, half-barren bass jam „Monster Love.‟ For the VHS-recorded video, which she directed, she‟s crafted a narrative reflective of the title, in which a monster--who kind of reminds me of Phil Hartman‟s SNL Frankenstein — searches for love, only to be rejected by many, including a mermaid.” --Claire Lobenfeld, STEREOGUM (6/26/13)
“‟First Love Never Die‟, a guitar pop gem that is probably the best song on the album. SOKO sings about reuniting with her first love. She captures all of the anxieties of that experience— resurrected feelings, nostalgia, indignation. That she does this over a Belle and Sebastian- esque arrangement ending in a beautiful horn crescendo makes it all the better.” --PRETTY MUCH AMAZING (CD review)
“[I Thought I Was An Alien] features 15 woozy lo-fi alt-pop songs inspired by the likes of Daniel Johnston and Leonard Cohen, including the singles „No More Home, No More Love,‟ „First Love Never Die‟…” --Jon O‟Brien, ALL MUSIC, (CD review, four-and-a-half-out-of five stars)
“15 beautifully woozy songs...” --THE LINE OF BEST FIT (CD review)
“gothic-folk...”
--Tom Lanham, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER, (7/4/13)
http://www.s-o-k-o.com https://twitter.com/SoKothecat https://www.facebook.com/soko http://www.youtube.com/sokomusic http://communitymusic.com
Press Releases & Assets: http://www.msopr.com/n/client-roster/soko
For more information on SOKO, contact:
Libby Coffey/MSO 818 380 0400 x224, [email protected]
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