Sophia
The Infinite Circle

In the beginning there were the God Machine, a promising and powerful band from San Diego, formed in 1990 and disbanded shortly after due to the passing of bassist Jimmy Fernandez. Following this tragic event, Robin Proper-Sheppard decided to embark on a solo career, creating Sophia, his one man band, and especially to drastically change his style, abandoning the sonic intensity that had distinguished the beginnings of the God Machine, and revealing his more introspective and tormented side.

After the debut work "FIXED WATER", remarkable but still a bit raw in its sounds, in 1998 (the same year as Radiohead's "OK COMPUTER", excuse me if that's not enough!) Sophia released "THE INFINITE CIRCLE", an album in which everything is perfect, from the arrangements to the depth of the tracks, which do not seem to conceal any weak points. Sheppard's ability to move the listener emerges here evidently, thanks to the keen sensitivity of the songwriter who releases everything he has inside, not only with introspective, decadent, and intimate lyrics, but also by virtue of the warmth of the sounds and the vibrant whirlwind of sensations that his vocal tone triggers.

The initial incipit of "Directionless" immediately sets things straight, highlighting the sense of disorientation in which Sheppard gropes ("losing my direction"). The endless circles in which the acoustic guitar arpeggios captivate us are "warmed" by an essential yet never trivial bass and, to an even more significant extent, by the splendid use of drums, insisting on snare drums, syncopated and often muted in counterpoints that grant the tracks a suspended and strongly evocative atmosphere, as happens, for example, in "I'd rather." Every day" has an almost progressive breath, in the least technical and banal sense of the term, and here the electro-acoustic setting is nearly masterful.

The warmth of sadness. This is what we could say about "Woman", a melancholic ballad where the gradual entrance of the instruments warms the atmosphere to explode into a breathtaking finale. When one is already largely satisfied with a wonderfully monotonous album, there comes "bastards", a real treasure trove of emotions, the keystone of our senses' strings, where the use of strings and piano is indescribably effective. The most rock piece is undoubtedly "The river song", another fundamental piece to close the infinite circle, a gallop led by a pressing rhythmic section and tamed by the distorted and acidic sounds of the electric guitar.

Hats off, gentlemen, in front of a work of excellent level, difficult to categorize and place in an arid and monotonous rock scene. It would be more politically correct to cite reference groups and dive into risky comparisons, but much more likely it is just to say that Sophia is Sophia and nothing else because they embody like no one else the charm of melancholy and disorientation.

Listen to them!