Sophia
"The Valentine's Day Session"

The sparse discography of Sophia (and its leader Robin Proper-Sheppard) does not lack, on the contrary, live testimonies, a constant in the band's history. First with “De Nachten”, a live performance held in Amsterdam in 2001, then with the series of "homemade" concerts included in the collection “At Home With Sophia” from 2011 and finally with the various concerts held in 2017 following the release of “As We Make Our Way”, included in a triple CD and LP (limited edition of 1000 copies each).

Amidst these releases, the acoustic set held at the Radiokulturhaus in Vienna on Valentine's Day 2009 stands out and was broadcast by the local Radio FM4. Fourteen tracks spanning the entire discography of Sophia, interpreted with the usual "calm" British verve typical of Robin, aided by arrangements of violins, viola, and cello that often intervene to reinforce the horizon of inherently depressive songs.

The concert bears the subtitle: “you said you should have left me at Christmas and then again on Valentine's Day” (a quote from the concluding “Signs"), and this alone is enough to understand the mood of the performance. Slow elegies of passionate pain indebted as much to slow-core as to the most intimate singer-songwriter style.

The singer himself has repeatedly declared the importance of this live for his heart, which during that period was inclined towards a particular person, and how he couldn't imagine a better coincidence of events than realizing such a concert on Valentine's Day.

The emotional transport is palpable from the initial “The Sea”, with descents and ascents closely tied to the impulses that each track manages to give the listener. It is up to each person to find their moment within the live performance.

It must be said that it is truly difficult not to be swept away, mind and body, by the infinite, annihilating drama of “I Left You”, or to remain seated when the walk along Oxford Street of “Where Are You Now” begins. Not to mention the sweet melody of “Birds”, ready to suggest we abandon our senses to its flow.

Ultimately, the advice is: for one night, leave all hope you who enter and surrender, maybe in the first row, to the power of music and words, sometimes the only tools capable of turning pain into joy.