Austin based indie-rock artist Sophia Warren has continued her series of EPs with the gothic-laced and existential 5-track project Adesso. In the EP, Warren continues her balancing act between personal experiences and larger-than-life sentiments set against 90s-inspired distorted guitars and fuzzy drums.
The leading single from this EP, “Static” tops the track list and deals with guilt over the past. Delayed and echoed drums set off the sound of this EP as “Static” establishes the pace of Adesso with a moderate rhythm that stops itself from falling too far forward. In the chorus, Warren describes “video tapes I avoid again.” This reckoning with the past is a theme that carries throughout the EP as the artist slowly starts to blur the line between what was and what is.
In the next song, “Grin,” a deeper, more 90s gothic rock-inspired sound starts to take hold with a heavily amped guitar riff and crisp drums as Warren questions if her childhood was “wasted time.” With its fuzziness and taped recordings, this song highlights the transportive drive of Adesso as listeners feel like they are shifting planes during the bridge. Repeating the lyrics “I don’t wanna do this anymore” in the bridge, the guitars start to build up once again and add to the anxious feeling that follows each element of this EP. Yet, in the rest of the EP, as the synths start to rise, this anxiety starts to shift sounds.
In “Doltish,” a slower drum beat immediately establishes a more vulnerable side of Warren. Less effects are put onto the bass and guitar lines in this song, creating a cleaner sound that the synths can better sit in. Still, the chorus adds some fuzz to the guitars along with a soft organ. As this song progresses, synthesis is experimented with, most notably in the bridge. The swelling synth solo in the bridge emphasises the otherworldly sounds of the EP as Warren confronts a lover with the words, “I’m not that stupid.” “Doltish” is another deep step into the world of early dream-pop for Warren, but she quickly shows how comfortably she can work within the genre.
Following “Doltish” is the slightly faster paced “BOR,” which sounds like a rock ballad ripped right out of the 90s. Guitars are piled on top of one another, with rhythm lead and a distorted strum scattered across the first verse. The lyrics skip back and forth between personal experiences and larger-than-life statements and cliches that help make the song feel existential. In the second verse, the lines “I still cannot forgive / If you still cannot admit” see the bitter acceptance of the past, along with the bridge’s “now I get what you did.”
Finishing this EP are a dragging rhythm and heavily panned guitar riffs as “all this washes away” in “Purple.” The syncopated rhythm helps the song feel like a reflection of the rest of the EP, which contrastingly felt like it was falling forward. As the final song of Adesso, the balance between the 90s grunge inspiration of the singles with the 80s gothic sounds feels like a nice wrap up for a well thought-out and colourful project.
Sophia Warren has established herself as an artist whose drive and commitment shapes her work into well-constructed stories and concepts connecting little slices of personal experience to larger questions about life overall. In Adesso, she delivers complicated ponders against a modern take on the rock sounds of the past.
Follow Sophia Warren: Apple Music / Instagram / Spotify / TikTok / YouTube
