LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Now we remember another artist, one of the most promising producers in electronic music. Three years ago, she died at just 34 years old. Her family is now releasing what they're calling the last Sophie album. Here's NPR Music's Hazel Cills.
HAZEL CILLS, BYLINE: Throughout the 2010s, Sophie made a name for herself as being one of the most cutting-edge producers in pop music. She worked with artists like Madonna.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "B***H I'M MADONNA (FEAT. NICKI MINAJ)")
MADONNA: (Singing) We go hard, or we go home. We gon' do this all night long. We get freaky if you want. Na-na-na-na-na.
CILLS: And Vince Staples.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YEAH RIGHT")
VINCE STAPLES: (Singing) How the workload? Is your buzz right? Do the trap jump? Is the plug right? Got your head right? Boy, yeah right. Boy, yeah right, yeah right, yeah right.
CILLS: Born and raised in England, Sophie started her career as an avant-garde electronic artist, and then she applied that background to making commercial pop music. Her songs were futuristic, subverting the rules of traditional pop production and pushing them to extremes.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IMMATERIAL")
SOPHIE: (Singing) We're just im-ma-ma-material. I could be anything I want. Immaterial boys, immaterial girls. Anyhow, anywhere, any place, anyone that I want. Im-ma-ma-material.
CILLS: In 2018, Sophie raised her public profile by releasing her own album. It was nominated for a Grammy. Her star was on the rise, and her next release highly anticipated. But in 2021, she died in Athens, Greece, following an accidental fall at the age of 34. Producer Jack Antonoff works with artists like Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey, and he tweeted, the loss of Sophie is huge. She's been at the forefront for a long time, and we see her influence in every corner of music.
She left behind hundreds of unreleased songs, including an incomplete album.
BENNY LONG: I don't think there was much question about this album. If the choice of it having been sitting in a hard drive and no one ever hearing it or coming out, I know what Sophie would want.
CILLS: That's Benny Long, Sophie's brother and longtime studio manager. Sophie left behind a concept and tracklist. But while some songs were nearly finished, it took three years to complete the album.
B LONG: There's a reason it wasn't out already. Sophie wasn't happy with it yet. I feel like there were a lot of songs where it was like, OK, this song's great, but the hook needs to sound more like this, or this bassline - it needs to be more like the bassline in this song.
CILLS: The ambitious final album is now here. It's called "Sophie" and it reveals several surprising new directions the producer was taking her music. There are experiments in techno inspired by Berlin club culture.
(SOUNDBITE OF SOPHIE'S "BERLIN NIGHTMARE")
CILLS: She produced ambient spoken word compositions.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE DOME'S PROTECTION")
NINA KRAVIZ: Unpredictable reality has become the algorithm that is able to solve a whole series of questions.
CILLS: But the album's also filled with the celebrated left-of-center pop music Sophie was known best for, like the song "Exhilarate." It features Bibi Bourelly, a songwriter for artists like Rihanna and Demi Lovato.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EXHILARATE")
BIBI BOURELLY: (Singing) Mama said take my time. Got lost in the lies. And if it's got worth, then work on it.
CILLS: Sophie's sister, Emily Long, says the artist wanted to make her music accessible.
EMILY LONG: She would refer to it as her pop album. And it may or may not sound pop to some people, but that's her understanding of pop. She really wanted to just reach as many people as possible with this album.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EXHILARATE")
BOURELLY: (Singing) Got my foot on the gas, got my foot on the gas. And I won't stop for no one, I won't stop for no one else, nah. Exhilarate.
CILLS: Sophie's approach to pop music may have been unconventional, but the message of her music was pure. Singer and songwriter Cecile Believe is featured on the track "My Forever."
CECILE BELIEVE: I think, like, there's pressures of what pop music is that come from the outside. And then there's just, like, what your heart wants to do (laughter). And yeah, I think that for Sophie - I mean, I don't exactly know, but I know that she always wanted to say something really emotional and genuine.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MY FOREVER")
CECILE BELIEVE: (Singing) High up, wonder why I'm so lonely. Can't stop when I know that it's only. Everybody wants to be somebody. Everybody's got to own their body.
CILLS: With its wide range of genres, collaborative spirit and feeling of celebration, Sophie's final album still reflects her greatest hopes for her career and her purpose as a producer, even if she wasn't able to finish it on her own. Again, here's her sister, Emily Long.
E LONG: It sounds so good to us, and it's so Sophie. And it's emotional to hear it. You can - for me, especially - I don't know about anyone else - but I can feel Sophie, you know? It's like having her in the room, in a way.
CILLS: Hazel Cills, NPR Music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "LOVE ME OFF EARTH")
DOSS: (Singing) What is it worth to love me on earth? Defying logic and time, love me off earth. What is it worth to love me on earth? Defying logic and time, love me off earth.
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