Sophie and the Giants are practitioners of innovative, left-leaning pop: a raw fusion of the band’s collective influences, which range from the likes of Siouxsie Sioux and Blondie to Radiohead and Jamie T. The band was formed by Sophie (vocals and guitar), Chris Hill (drums), Bailey Stapledon (bass) and Toby Holmes (guitar) while all four of them were still at college. Shortly after graduation they moved to their adoptive hometown of Sheffield where they’ve been refining their intense, life-affirming sound.
Listeners won’t need to move to Sheffield to find that out for themselves: the Adolescence EP is a brilliantly focused first release by one of Britain’s most exciting new groups. While Sophie continues to toy with justifying her band’s name by putting Bailey, Chris and Toby in heels, the empowering nature of her lyrics means that the ‘giants’ concept has taken on a new meaning: this is music that’s all about standing tall. It’s about owning who you are, Sophie suggests. “We want people to come together because of our music,” Chris adds. “The important thing is that you need to be yourself.” Adds Bailey: “Life’s full of cliques but our theory is: sod all that, here’s some music.”
“We’d love to be a pop band that makes a difference by making music human again,” Sophie adds. “Every song I’ve written is from an experiences I’ve had; human mistakes that I’ve made and lived through.” Stone Cold, for instance, is all about Sophie’s idiosyncratic take on love: “Songs from female singers are so often about unrequited love, but for me a lot of the time it’s the other way round: it’s upsetting not being able to feel the way they want you to, because you’re so focused on other things. You feel like a stone cold bitch.” Then there’s Space Girl, in which Sophie debates “spending your whole childhood aspiring to be something, then when it starts happening you begin to wonder if you can handle it, and what you really want”. But the Adolescence EP is not about wallowing, or resting on laurels, and it’s certainly not about admitting defeat. It’s about coming out fighting. The spiky fury of Bulldog, which documents the time a friend of the band was assaulted by their partner, is proof of that.
Live Dates
3rd November – Lincoln – 2Q Festival (“This Feeling Takeover”)
14th November – Birmingham – The Castle & Falcon (Supporting Findlay)
15th November – London – Omeara (Supporting Findlay)
16th November – Manchester – Ruby Lounge (Supporting Findlay)
‘ADOLESCENCE’ EP OUT 26th OCTOBER
