Sophia Knapp’s Into the Waves is unusually pure and luminous yet primal in its its subtle ferocity.
Her vocals are sensual, soothing and from lissome lyrics dissolve under your tongue, a pressure of
swelling emotion tingling the tips of your spine. Baroque meets psych-rock circa 1960’s revolutionaries
Into the Waves is a sensational album and Sophia’s first solo record. The album is a memoir deeply
affected by her childhood growing up in New York City and moving across the country to San Francisco.
Sophia had many contributors, namely film composer and pianist Jay Israelson and Eric Gorman, who
co-produced the album; “Bassy” Bob Brockman who played bass guitar and Robert “Chicken” Burke who
played percussion on the album. Bill Callahan also lends his tender voice to the album, singing two duets.
Into the Waves includes the runaway single from last year, “Nothing to Lose.”
Video: Nothing To Lose
Her mother was a classical Pianist and a piano teacher, and when Sophia decided to pick up the guitar at age 11 her parents were supportive,
“We had little neighborhood jam sessions,” Knapp says. Below is Sophia on Tambourine and vocals, around age 12.
Starting out her focus was on drawing:
“I work a lot with water color, ink on paper. At school I never had a concentration, I studied sculpture, Painting and Dance.”
Another fact about Sophia is she loves to dance.
“I take dance classes, like samba and most recently I took a Bollywood dance class; it was amazing.”
Sophia’s album is likely to delight fans of all genres. Knapp combines jazz, classical and internally instinctual elements to her music.
Preview the track from the album due out February 28, 2012 on Drag City Records
