New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Girlie Action Media & Marketing) Swedish native Soso has proven that she can handle every aspect of the creative process on her own. Her debut album, That Time I Dug So Deep I Ended Up In China, due out May 1, 2012, acts as a self-indulgent and almost awkwardly honest autobiography. The recently released single "Who's Gonna Love Me" is a slow-building pop gem that battles intimate issues like insecurity and abandonment, with a "fuck-you" attitude. Check out the new spacey Helium Robots remix of "Who's Gonna Love Me," where it premiered with PopMatters today or HERE: https://goo.gl/esrQp
"An '80s-style riff thickens the romantically demanding chorus, in which Soso shifts from an Adele-brand of defeatism to Beyoncé's confidence in just a few chords." - Interview Magazine
"... her yearning vocals add flesh to often skeletal soundbeds of detuned synths and patterned beats." - DAZED & CONFUSED
"Soso is Swedish superpower composed of
Monica Belluci's face, Robyn's voice and Adele's heartbreak."- RCRD LBL
The album's title holds both literal and metaphoric meaning, as Soso is known not to be very keen on leaving her familiar home environment, and China was the furthest, most foreign destination she could think of. Sticking with this theme, Soso decided to experiment with traditional Chinese instruments in her electronic productions. She also remembers that as a child playing in the sandbox, her mother would say, "Soso, if you keep digging like that, you'll end up in China!" Well, it appears that she has dug herself a big hole, and put a soundtrack to it. The result is a record that is lyrically raw and lo-fi, yet paradoxically pop with its unintentionally sophisticated melodies.
"
Happy People" is a soulful and bittersweet track evoking an earlier time, when life was simple and free from complication. "Joaquin Phoenix" is a one-take-love-song to the decadent actor that Soso recorded impulsively after watching his mockumentary "I'm Still Here" in 2010. There is also a mind-blowing interpretation of Cody Chestnutt's "My Women, My Guitars" on the record, in which Soso all too effortlessly sings the lyrics "I've Got A Dick Full Of Blood And A Wide Open
Heart To Lean On…" as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The record also features a number of preludes and semi-instrumentals, including "Every Man I Love Has Got A Girlfriend," "Everything Near Becomes Distant" and "Sab Lackath," an anagram for
Black Sabbath, for which Soso recorded herself crying and edited it into a rhythmic beat. It is clear that within the parameters of her technique, Soso truly invites us to her inner most private places.
Soso's album takes the concept of DIY to a whole new level. The recording process was limited entirely to the bedroom of her Stockholm apartment. It was in this room that Soso wrote and self-produced each and every track. In addition, she directed and edited her own photographs and videos, all of which were shot by her boyfriend within the confines of her apartment and its backyard.
Soso's debut takes listeners on an exhilarating, and sometimes pleasurably awkward, journey. It dares to explore the skeletons we hide in the closet, all while being set to an incessantly catchy soundtrack. We dare you not to be moved.
