In her debut album, Love & Grief, Sophia Stephens traverses the delicate, sometimes brutal landscape of love and loss, creating a narrative arc that feels like an emotional coming-of-age journey. Drawing from influences such as Florence and the Machine, Lorde, and Adele, Stephens’ sound fuses intense, reflective lyrics with lush instrumentation, proving her strength as both a storyteller and musician.
With influences from Halsey and Olivia Rodrigo, “Muscle Memory” pulses with synths and crisp beats, offset by Stephens’ warm, emotive vocals. The lyrics convey a relationship’s lasting impact, likening memories of past love to muscle memory—inescapable and ever-present.
In the title track, Stephens pairs a jittery percussive beat with shimmering melodies, creating a soundscape that feels both grounded and ethereal. The lyrics are haunting and introspective, capturing the paradox of love that both strengthens and weakens, making us feel vulnerable even as we grow.
A beautifully tender piano ballad, “Time Passes By,” leans into Stephens’ pop-soul sensibilities, with lush strings and a soothing piano that evokes artists like Adele and Lewis Capaldi. The track reflects on the inevitability of time and the way it shapes memories, both joyful and painful. Her vocals are gentle yet powerful, bringing a comforting warmth to the realization that time’s passage is an inescapable but essential part of life’s beauty.
The album concludes with “Beautiful Life,” an anthemic, life-affirming track where Stephens contemplates mortality with gratitude. A blend of thumping drums and chiming guitars gives the song an energetic warmth that contrasts with its themes of acceptance and existential contemplation.
Each track builds upon itself in Love & Grief, weaving a story for those who have loved, lost, and found themselves again in the aftermath.
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Review by: Naomi Joan