Is “Sophie” the Perfect Posthumous Album? Sophie & Benny Long analysis

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  • Опубліковано 12 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 97

  • @tawfiq5741
    @tawfiq5741 2 місяці тому +148

    I feel like people have a big misunderstanding of who Sophie is by associating her with this image of perfection from her last album. I understand that people don't like the album, that's one thing, but saying it betrays her vision even though Sophie conceptualized most of this on her own, is not true. Her brother confirmed that like 80 percent of it was done and he just did the finishing touches. I think having an imperfect album is more challenging than having this idealistic posthumous fantasy that most people have of her.

    • @Peighter
      @Peighter 2 місяці тому

      Those finishing touches actually mean something; I personally haven’t listened to the album and I have no interest; if it wasn’t Sophie approved then I don’t want anything to do with it

    • @L1239-z8l
      @L1239-z8l 2 місяці тому +9

      @@Peighterbro it’s a posthumous album. Are they supposed to bring her back alive?

    • @Tjtingz
      @Tjtingz 2 місяці тому

      @@tawfiq5741 Sophie was a perfectionist tho, before she passed she had 3 albums ‘finished’, idk why we didn’t get the transnation album

    • @nanobot1994
      @nanobot1994 2 місяці тому

      @@Tjtingz What's there to get, she died lol

    • @Tjtingz
      @Tjtingz 2 місяці тому +1

      @@nanobot1994 ‘Transnation’ was an unreleased album by Sophie that was supposedly scrapped

  • @thrownstair
    @thrownstair 2 місяці тому +25

    When you said "as much as you feel her presence, you feel her absence", I knew that you'd got it. People just haven't given this album the patience and context it deserved.

  • @holidaycomplex
    @holidaycomplex 2 місяці тому +58

    AVAA as someone who fell in love with SOPHIE at 16 and just turned 23 this album felt like getting a chance at one last conversation with an old friend. i know people have mixed opinions on the album but personally? i didn’t need oil of every pearls uninsides part two i needed one new moment with her. like her concert i missed because i was too young and too broke to go, i get frustrated by the past escaping me. but SOPHIE believed in the future. she taught me that i could be anything i wanted, to be bold and unshaken. i know i sound like a superfan and maybe i am but she taught me that infinite possibilities exist in us if we’re willing to listen. this album was a reminder of that and for that reason it means so much more than i can put to words

    • @edengil9369
      @edengil9369 2 місяці тому +4

      Beautifully put. She shook me alive and spoke of the immateriality of it all. One last hello from her, like a ghost waving at you from a distance. Stay immaterial, friend.

    • @holidaycomplex
      @holidaycomplex 2 місяці тому +1

      thank u same 2 u 💗

    • @a2ad9c36
      @a2ad9c36 2 місяці тому

    • @W4LT3Rego
      @W4LT3Rego 2 місяці тому

      nice comment! hope you're well

  • @mundain8818
    @mundain8818 2 місяці тому +18

    A.G Cook actually did work on this album slightly or at least had a look at it before releasing. Charli did too apparently according to Benny. All features and people who made SOPHIE were all Sophies real friends and old collaborators. There is some songs nodding to missing Sophie but its interesting because they were written before her passing. Benny claims Sophie wanted the album in 4 parts, the ambience (intro -> the domes protection) then the “joy section”, (as Sophie called it, reason why -> why lies) then the techno run, (do you wanna be alive -> one more time) and the last section is the missing Sophie part.

    • @mundain8818
      @mundain8818 2 місяці тому +7

      also in addition a lot of people said “where the charli song” and things similar but you really gotta take into account the time it was. In So I by Charli XCX off of Brat (about Sophie) she claims near the end her and Sophie weren’t super close so it would’ve been weird. This album was near complete around covid time and i just think many people are viewing it like why didnt they make it this or that song but this album was and is a Sophie envisioned album. It was meant to be a standalone techno album.

  • @PabloHernandez-rr1or
    @PabloHernandez-rr1or 2 місяці тому +25

    AVAA, rip to sophie, an incredible artist, i'm very happy this came out

  • @everyvillainislemons7583
    @everyvillainislemons7583 Місяць тому +1

    Definitely going to blast Sophie with my kids as well

  • @MarinaAndTheDevil
    @MarinaAndTheDevil Місяць тому +1

    These Professor Skye album video essays are my safe space

  • @RyleyAtk
    @RyleyAtk 2 місяці тому +4

    AVAA - wonderful video, Skye. A beautiful, considered perspective on a record that has gotten largely lost in an unfortunate discourse cycle. It is a clear and purposeful work of art and your musings on posthumous records have me wanting to look at a whole bunch of my favourite (and least favourite) examples in a new light. Great stuff!

  • @S123-g4h
    @S123-g4h 2 місяці тому +4

    Loved your thoughts on Love Me Off Earth. It’s a very evocative & beautiful play of words. I’m thankful that she existed too

  • @mundain8818
    @mundain8818 2 місяці тому +5

    people often see this album as her collection rather than a chapter of her life. this was just one page to a book that will never be completed ❤️‍🩹 Sophie forever

  • @roymantic1833
    @roymantic1833 2 місяці тому +2

    AVAA This was my first actual video that I sat and watched in full because I mean c'mon! SOPHIE! But I do agree. It's merit is in its vision and how the end goal of the album stayed true and I love that. I'm very happy you found this album as enriching as I did in comparison to the general public's views!

  • @beflygelt
    @beflygelt 2 місяці тому +2

    AVAA, I'm happy you're loving the album too. It's such a wonderful listen and giving you such a beautiful spectrum of all her sounds and what made her special. it's such a tasteful and fitting posthumous release. it was funny to see the title of this video because that's literally something I was thinking about, like as frustrating and sad as it is on one hand, it also is kind of a best-case scenario in a lot of ways and like you formulated so well the partial incompleteness maybe even adds to it, weirdly.
    def massive shoutout to her family and especially Ben for their work on this and presenting it all with so much care.
    some additional notes for you on the collaborators here: evita manji was her girlfriend at the time - nina kraviz and julianna huxtable are probably best known as DJs. the former a big techno star I don't rly care for but julianna is very experimental and cool, as is her visual art btw! if you like her poetry delivery you should also check out her band tongue in the mind which is on PAN. the pretty canary mv is rly brilliant.

  • @Lucas-hz8ts
    @Lucas-hz8ts 2 місяці тому +11

    AAVA! really glad you reviewed this one, i hope you review the new Xiu Xiu as well

  • @cosmo7437
    @cosmo7437 2 місяці тому +5

    I was going through an extremely traumatic time when Sophie passed and her music kept me pushing through each day of that period. From immaterial making me forget about everything for even a split second to just reveling in the insanity of the remix album and heav3n set. I associate Sophie’s music with so many emotional peaks in my life and i know so many people felt the same way. This album could have been an hour of the fart synth on vyzee and I would have been happy to be honest. This album felt so cathartic emotionally and sonically and it truly breaks my heart to hear all the hate for this album. I truly don’t understand how people can say tho sounds NOTHING like Sophie when her signature is all over this album, it’s just not as in your face as every pearls. This felt like an homage to all of her influences; to her love for pet shop boys to autechre it was all here. Sophie never wanted to limit herself, and you can tell with the range of sounds and genres she explored on this album. I love this album into eternity.

    • @thelevelbeyondhuman
      @thelevelbeyondhuman 2 місяці тому +2

      When you said homage to her influences yes that’s 100% what my gut reaction was. I also felt a bit of the shock of others like, i was expecting some grand maximalist over the top futuristic thing but instead it felt like Sophie exploring her roots with her own flair, which is amazing in its own right. I just feel like cuz everyone had that expectation of it being some over the top thing there was a lot of disappointment when it wasn’t that

  • @diego_wagner
    @diego_wagner 2 місяці тому +1

    AVAA Professor! Thanks for talking about this album. I had some similar thoughts to the main ideas of your video when I first heard the last minute of the song "Exhilarate". After an absolutely gorgeous and triumphant 3 and a half minutes, it gradually trails off and almost feels like she was in the process of sketching out the rest of the song in her DAW. As if the moments in between the bubbly impacts were going to be filled out with more musical ideas. I'm not sure if Sophie considered that song finished before her passing, but the first time I heard it I was absolutely haunted by that thought. I know very little about her brother Benny, but an image that comes to my mind when I hear this is a grieving family member walking into the departed's bedroom after they've passed. From the general audience reactions to this album it sounds like many people wanted the bedroom to have been organized a little before being given the tour, and I'm so happy that Benny chose instead to show us this album in the state that he chose to share it. It's a hard listen, and that's okay. I don't know if this album should be considered a part of her full discography in the same way Product, Oil, and the remix album are, but maybe that's not a bad thing.
    The world and the musical landscape as whole is worse off in her absence, but I'm so thankful to be touched by her music. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and giving me encouragement to think about it a little more. Big fan of your work.

  • @hunterdelaghetto
    @hunterdelaghetto 2 місяці тому +3

    I saw Sophie at SXSW headlining the PC music tent in maybe 2011. It was the most influential musical moment of my life. She was soo ahead of her time and sooo missed.

  • @froggin9774
    @froggin9774 2 місяці тому +2

    AVAA, just happy we got to hear one last project from Sophie. stellar album and experience.

    • @no-nr6de
      @no-nr6de 2 місяці тому

      Whats AVAA mean?

    • @froggin9774
      @froggin9774 2 місяці тому +1

      @@no-nr6de idk i saw every other reply say it lol

  • @Dschoanig
    @Dschoanig 2 місяці тому

    AVAA! The conclusion at the end made me tear up. Luv your videos!!!

  • @lamergamer8211
    @lamergamer8211 2 місяці тому +4

    my favorite album of all time, nurture by porter robinson came to me because i thought the worlds album art looked cool. i saw it somewhere in my spotify suggested albums list, clicked on it and was enchanted so i looked up his other music and found my favorite album literally ever. because ive listened to more music now i unfortunately can never have that experience again because spotify knows me too well to take risks. AVAA

  • @hymospheir989
    @hymospheir989 2 місяці тому +6

    I love Why Lies. BC Kingdom was on Pony Whip, a great track from the OOEP nonstop remix album

  • @Mac_n_CheeseSauce
    @Mac_n_CheeseSauce 2 місяці тому

    Shout out to Young Fathers! They're so good!

  • @MarbleClouds
    @MarbleClouds 2 місяці тому +1

    AVAA. RIP SOPHIE. WE MISS YOU.

  • @tylerhackner9731
    @tylerhackner9731 2 місяці тому +9

    I do think she deserved a little better

  • @chend2713
    @chend2713 2 місяці тому +11

    AAVA solely for billy joel catching strays. we love to see it

    • @user-jz8dd3zj8e
      @user-jz8dd3zj8e 2 місяці тому +2

      What did he do?

    • @danielbarrantes9594
      @danielbarrantes9594 2 місяці тому

      I was wondering the same lol​@@user-jz8dd3zj8e

    • @tastyhaze2058
      @tastyhaze2058 2 місяці тому

      @@user-jz8dd3zj8e He released Piano Man. Not currently a war crime, but in an alternate, more just reality, it's punishable by firing squad. /s

  • @olehkoliada2804
    @olehkoliada2804 2 місяці тому

    Agreed on so many points articulated, especially when the age and experience about music coincide (I am your peer). But one thing I will never get (because I am not American I suppose) - how can anyone like K West? Beyond my comprehension. Happy though to listen to your Sophie's story and impressions related. And your impromptu remarks. Greeting from Ukraine.

  • @Tjtingz
    @Tjtingz 2 місяці тому +6

    My main problem with the album is that the leaked demos/tracks on the album played live by Sophie herself sound better than the official posthumous release.
    The album is still a great effort, and I’m glad it was released to continue her legacy, but we have to acknowledge that the album was never fully finished, and that we will never know how Sophie wanted the album to sound like.

  • @mydearaurora
    @mydearaurora 2 місяці тому

    I didn't like many tracks on this album and that made me sad but after awhile I just move on to this mindset of take what you need and leave the rest. It is difficult to take this album because like you said as much as you can feel her presence you can also feel her absent and that just makes it so heartbreaking to me

  • @neryleal5265
    @neryleal5265 Місяць тому

    I'm torn on the album. On one hand I agree here it makes you miss Sophie herself. There are songs and emotions and feelings throughout the album that feel like you can feel her sitting next to you, telling you it's going to be okay and at some point you'll have to move on because she knows she isn't there anymore. On another hand I'm torn because I cannot truly believe this album was 80 percent done before her passing. And if that is true it's that last 20 percent that stands out sonically. It feels so barebones compared to Sophie's previous work. Even on stripped back and bare songs, Sophie's production allows you to analyze each sound to the point where at times it feels like you'll never fully be able to understand what you are listening to. And I don't feel that on this album. Yes Sophie has stated her next release would be pop. But I feel like even with that, that perfect sophie production makes this sound like, just a pop album. There's a lot to be said about fans saying they understand Sophie's work better than her family, and especially her collaborators. But personally I didn't feel that this was the pop album sophie ultimately would've wanted released. I mean think about this is the artist who has fan favorite songs never officially released. Some of her best work can only be heard through poor audio quality livestreams and even THEN you can hear the sophie touch that she had. And even if the album was 80 percent complete before her passing, I feel like if we took every single song on the album and just examined it and thought about it, it feels like we actually could've learned a lot about Sophie's productivity. Are there definite elements of True Sophie in the album? Yes. 100 percent. I think Plunging Asymptote is such a Sophie song especially considering her work like Push Emissions (Whore Moans). But it feels like we got to see Sophie would come up w the basics to make her songs, but then probably spend more time on the details and production than the core concept of her songs or their structure, possibly knowing she would rewrite and possibly come up w an entirely different song. This makes me miss Sophie, and I think regardless of her vision, or what I or fans think was a hit or miss, at the end of the day this is clearly an album mean to honor and remember Sophie. But as my own biased fan w what everyone would agree is a very personal yet different understanding w their relationship w Sophie, I also feel like this album was never going to be on par w Sophie's work than when she was alive. It's also entirely unclear what 80 percent actually dictates when it comes to being finished pre death. It's those 20 percent fill ins I would love to know what they are. If it's true Sophie was almost 80 percent done, I would've rather had no new music or just released the album unfinished because it would've been the truest form of Sophie we would've been given as her final release. Again I argue some of her best work, and some of her fan favorites work was never officially released which meant either Sophie didn't believe it was good enough and needed more work or she didn't like it. I think it was a miss to fill in those 20 percent because it probably did change the album. As long time fans we do know what feels like Sophie and what feels like an attempt or an homage.

  • @tyrusquiroz8810
    @tyrusquiroz8810 2 місяці тому

    young fathers !!

  • @Freddie_Dunning-Kruger_Jr.
    @Freddie_Dunning-Kruger_Jr. 2 місяці тому

    Young Fathers?
    Ghost Poet?
    Sophie❤
    Teach, get out of my head, get out of my life 😮

  • @lolzalot44
    @lolzalot44 2 місяці тому +1

    AVAA I'm finna workout to this onr

  • @stunarella
    @stunarella 2 місяці тому

    You should check out “Tender the Spark” by Cecile Believe, came out in August. “The Pearl” is so heart breaking and beautiful! avaa

  • @a2ad9c36
    @a2ad9c36 2 місяці тому +1

    AAVA!!!
    also, Signe has clarified the lyrics to DO U WANNA BE ALIVE and they are as shown below :
    [cut from the song] I BOUGHT THE DREAM THEY- [end cut]
    SOLD TO ME I GOT IT ON SALE AT DOLLAR TREE
    MY P*SSYS TIGHT , SKIN SNOWFLAKE WHITE
    GRAB ME UP AND AMPLIFY IT
    DADDY DADDY PLEASE PLEASE GIVE ME WHAT I NEED NEED MMM, DON'T DON'T-
    (I can't hear anything)
    CAN I ASK YOU A QUESTION?
    A PSYCHONIC FUCKING VORTEX, OF MY DEVIANT MYTHOLOGY
    AN EXECUTIVE XXXPORT, OF MY TRANSLUCENT INFINITY
    OH OH OH OH OH OH OH OH WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT
    EW
    NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
    (Baby Werk It)
    ( Ouuu,,, Mmmm,,, Make Me Feel )
    U WANNA BE ALIVE????

  • @FishareFriendsNotFood972
    @FishareFriendsNotFood972 2 місяці тому +4

    14:23 Diddy jumpscare not expected in a Sophie album review. AVAA

  • @RIPSLYMEFAN
    @RIPSLYMEFAN 2 місяці тому

    Not related and not new music but I would love to hear Skye breakdown Epik High. Tablo’s struggle with social acceptance and growth is quite the case study

  • @everr.r
    @everr.r 2 місяці тому +2

    u always do such a lovely job of contextualizing albums. avaa

  • @josemiguelmaciasvocar2690
    @josemiguelmaciasvocar2690 2 місяці тому

    29:00 Endlos (Endlos, Endlos, Endlos...)

  • @thebenjcrew
    @thebenjcrew 2 місяці тому

    AVAA, good pun at 5:05

  • @Freddie_Dunning-Kruger_Jr.
    @Freddie_Dunning-Kruger_Jr. 2 місяці тому

    Kraftwerk - Europa Endlos

  • @chocladc4942
    @chocladc4942 2 місяці тому +1

    AVAA!

  • @teal.9710
    @teal.9710 2 місяці тому

    14:20 😂😂😂

  • @releasio9921
    @releasio9921 2 місяці тому +13

    Super excited to hear what you have to say! I did not like this album at all myself really. Hollow would be the best word to describe it. Many tracks felt unfinished, and all I could think about was how, even if it was coming from a place of respect, they didn’t do her vision justice. To be fair, Sophie’s literal brother undoubtedly understood the vision more than me, but even if this was the full idea, I just don’t resonate with it much. But your views on this album seem to be radically different and that excites me. Much more interesting than if you just agreed with the “consensus”.
    Edit: I think I just don’t like it too much. I had no idea the full album was as close to completion as it was before her passing. I should’ve done my research before I spoke. Sorry to everyone who read and thank you to the people in the replies who kindly corrected me. Y’all are awesome 👍

    • @professorskye
      @professorskye  2 місяці тому +21

      I haven’t paid any attention to the consensus. Didn’t know it was negative! Hopefully this video will add to the discourse.

    • @loganspade5183
      @loganspade5183 2 місяці тому +16

      The "consensus"' dislikes this album but I think that opinion comes from people who don't know SOPHIE. this project is comprised of songs that she played live previously and these tracks are extremely reminiscent of what her dj sets / performances were like. SOPHIE's "HEAV3N Suspended" mix is uploaded here on youtube and it's 20 minutes of phenomenal stuff and it's very similar to this album.
      it also features a cut of "My Forever" (also on this album), and a couple spectacular unreleased tracks with Shygirl.

    • @releasio9921
      @releasio9921 2 місяці тому +3

      @@loganspade5183 Fair enough. You definitely make a good point. And to tell the truth, no, I haven’t listened to her DJ sets! That’s a reference point I don’t really have. Sorry that I spoke from ignorance.

    • @tawfiq5741
      @tawfiq5741 2 місяці тому +11

      You say that they "didn't do her vision justice" but Sophie met up with these people, collaborated with them, produced the music AND played some it live, while she was still here with us. I feel like you have a big misunderstanding of who Sophie is if you associate her with this image of perfection from her last album. That is not who she is, she is about chasing the feeling and making big sounds, and sometimes that comes in the form of simple structures, it does not have to be avant-garde. I understand that people don't like the album, that's one thing, but saying it betrays her vision even though Sophie conceptualized most of this on her own, is not true. Her brother confirmed that like 80 percent of it was done and he just did the finishing touches. I think having an imperfect album is more challenging than having this idealistic posthumous fantasy that most people have of her.

    • @LDR4Lyfe
      @LDR4Lyfe 2 місяці тому

      ​@loganspade5183 I've never heard her dj sets but when I heard the album it definitely felt like a dj set

  • @LilSmacko
    @LilSmacko 2 місяці тому

    AVAA Dont have high hopes for Panic...never change prof 😂

  • @ethanlammar5554
    @ethanlammar5554 2 місяці тому

    Day 347 of Asking you to Review Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youth

    • @ropesquid2085
      @ropesquid2085 2 місяці тому

      M8 are you talking about the track or the album it's off... (Go Farther In Lightness is the title)

    • @ethanlammar5554
      @ethanlammar5554 2 місяці тому

      @@ropesquid2085 The track

  • @MP4_mafia
    @MP4_mafia 2 місяці тому +6

    I was slightly disappointed, but the more pop vocal tracks make it redeemable, and I'm just grateful to be able to hear these sounds at all. Edit: more of the tracks have grown on me

  • @lamergamer8211
    @lamergamer8211 2 місяці тому +5

    As a stupid loser who looks like pat mahomes, I don’t appreciate your generalization. AVAA

  • @julius48268
    @julius48268 2 місяці тому

    The best parts are muted

  • @nikaidonikaido3975
    @nikaidonikaido3975 2 місяці тому

    I bet if nina kraviz were islaeli and once said bibi is a wise lider, that track wouldn't end up on the album. Pathetic

    • @tastyhaze2058
      @tastyhaze2058 2 місяці тому

      Touch grass

    • @nikaidonikaido3975
      @nikaidonikaido3975 2 місяці тому

      @@tastyhaze2058 🤡

    • @nikaidonikaido3975
      @nikaidonikaido3975 2 місяці тому

      ​@tastyhaze2058 are you triggered because you're a fan of mr putin same as nina ?😂

    • @asiavaliuk4482
      @asiavaliuk4482 2 місяці тому

      lizy2k who is totally Zionist and also said alot of shit about black lives matter also in a album like nina (unfortunately. I hate those ppl)

    • @bethanywhite247
      @bethanywhite247 2 місяці тому

      ..what? i hope you know liz is a zionist lol. sophie is dead, a lot of the people who ended up saying problematic stuff did it after she died, and i doubt they want to destroy the vision for the album that sophie had. not a big fan of it but im glad they are staying so true to her vision, at that point i dont care who provided some rather amateur-ish vocals (why lies...)

  • @Siemamordo111
    @Siemamordo111 2 місяці тому +2

    Unfortunately the album is horrible, most of it is boring and the vocal guests are mostly horrible

  • @janmdsdks
    @janmdsdks 2 місяці тому +1

    First 20 minutes of this albums is just a bunch of nothing. 4:30 for a boring ambient intro. Then 3 minutes of an empty song. Then 4:30 for Plunging Asymptote, the worst song on the project. Then 7:30 for a boring half-ambient song, and after all of this we get only two interesting songs on the whole record. Overall, more than an hour of musical void with few nice moments scattered here and there. It's not good ambient, and there's a difference between a song like Pretending and all of those, because Pretending is actually layered and has narrative significance. "SOPHIE" just feels like a bad posthumous release because it's effortless and empty. I don't believe Sophie would have released this album. Frankly, it's an insult to Sophie's discography.

  • @blodiaaa6990
    @blodiaaa6990 2 місяці тому +3

    No

  • @papi1879
    @papi1879 2 місяці тому

    A Sophie's new realease is fine, but the album as a whole and the songs are mid...

  • @matrescence_motherhood
    @matrescence_motherhood 2 місяці тому

    It wasn’t good. It didn’t even sound like Sophie.

  • @anyways1715
    @anyways1715 2 місяці тому

    i don't think anybody knows who popstar is. she's completely anonymous as far as i'm aware