SOPHIE (1986–2021) was a Scottish electronic producer from Glasgow whose synthetic, hyper-modulated sound design helped invent hyperpop alongside the PC Music collective. Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides (2018) earned a Grammy nomination and is the essential starting point; she also produced for Madonna, Charli XCX, and Lady Gaga. Shop SOPHIE vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Sophie Xeon, performing as SOPHIE, was born in Glasgow, Scotland on September 17, 1986. She launched her recording career in the early 2010s and is widely cited as one of the foundational figures of contemporary hyperpop and the PC Music collective alongside founder A. G. Cook, Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, and others. Her 2013 single Bipp became a cult landmark. Her 2015 singles compilation Product collected her early Numbers / MSMSMSM singles. She came out publicly as transgender in 2017 with the It's Okay to Cry single (featuring her own face and voice for the first time after years of anonymity). Her 2018 debut LP Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides received critical attention, being nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album in 2019. She produced material for Madonna (2015 Bitch I'm Madonna), Charli XCX (multi-album collaborations including Vroom Vroom EP 2016), Vince Staples, Lady Gaga, Cashmere Cat, and many other contemporary pop and electronic artists. Her foundational influence on contemporary hyperpop is widely cited. She died on January 30, 2021 at age 34 after an accidental fall while climbing to view a full moon at her Athens, Greece apartment, with international mourning in the contemporary pop and electronic music communities. Her posthumous self-titled album SOPHIE was released on September 27, 2024.
SOPHIE's sound is foundational to hyperpop as a recognized genre - combining hyperpop, electronic, experimental electronic, electronic pop, deconstructed club, post-club, dance-pop, and avant-pop with her distinctive production approach (use of synthetic, plastic, hyper-modulated sound design and unconventional pop song structures), and lyrical content addressing identity, sexuality, transgender experience, and broader contemporary themes drawing on pop, dance, and experimental traditions.
Numbers, Future Classic, and MSMSMSM pressings of the SOPHIE catalog are foundational items in contemporary hyperpop collecting, with collector premiums on early Numbers releases. The 2024 posthumous SOPHIE has been.
Listeners new to SOPHIE typically start with Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides (2018).
