But just as her star was on the rise, SOPHIE died suddenly in 2021 at the age of 34 in Athens, Greece, following an accidental fall. Her family says she left behind a collection of hundreds of unreleased songs, as well as a follow-up album to her debut, already conceptualized at the time she was making Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides. But the album wasn’t finished.
“I just think if it came down to it, if the choice had been it sitting in a hard drive and no one ever hearing it or coming out — I know what SOPHIE would want. I’m sure,” he says. “She basically wanted it out almost already. So why would we not?”
Still, it took time and care to complete. SOPHIE’s family and collaborators spent three years finishing the album, trying to realize the producer’s vision for the release with the pieces she left behind. SOPHIE was a prolific collaborator, bringing more voices into her process as she worked on her final album. But she was also a visionary, an artist who filtered and fine-tuned the ideas of her featured artists through her singular, wholefully original sound. A question loomed large over the posthumous release: How do you finish a SOPHIE album without SOPHIE?
It says a lot about the impact of her work that this mattered to so many people. I would be honored for people to care so much about something I had made. This reminds me a little of the way...
It says a lot about the impact of her work that this mattered to so many people. I would be honored for people to care so much about something I had made.
This reminds me a little of the way Brandon Sanderson finished Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Start with someone who cares about the person's legacy (i.e. RJ's widow, Harriet). That person finds creative folks to realize the vision. From what I saw and read, he would have been happy that his life's work was finally delivered to his fans.
It says a lot about the impact of her work that this mattered to so many people. I would be honored for people to care so much about something I had made.
This reminds me a little of the way Brandon Sanderson finished Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. Start with someone who cares about the person's legacy (i.e. RJ's widow, Harriet). That person finds creative folks to realize the vision. From what I saw and read, he would have been happy that his life's work was finally delivered to his fans.