Sofia Karlberg is a Swedish/Moroccan musician whose music lays everything on the table. Sofia first gained fame uploading cover songs online in 2015. After signing with Universal, she released her 2017 debut single “Bad Omen.”
Born Sofia Amanda Karlberg Zoubir in Stockholm in 1996, Karlberg grew up in a multicultural family with a Moroccan mother and a Swedish father. She became interested in music at a young age and by 2011 had begun posting covers songs online. In 2105, her cover of Beyonce‘s “Crazy in Love” went viral and landed on pop charts in Europe and the U.K. Buoyed by the attention, she signed with Universal and in 2017 issued the single “Bad Omen.” A second single, “Stockholm Syndrome,” arrived in 2019.
Her EP ‘Hold My Love’, the artist demonstrates her desire to push her own boundaries, whilst bringing listeners vulnerable relatability.Sofia started gaining notoriety through her reinterpretations of songs such as Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” and “Paris” by Notion 91 cover stars the Chainsmokers. Amassing a hugely impressive two million subscribers on YouTube, she made the shift to her own originals in 2019 with the release of EP ‘Spotless Mind’. Racking up over 1.5 billion streams since then, it’s clear that Sofia is striking an international chord.
‘Hold My Love’ is a mission of self-discovery, an EP that allows the artist to open up about her own life story. Representing her own experiences, Sofia recently moved from her Swedish hometown to Berlin. Reflected in her music, Sofia describes: “I wanted to invite all the different parts of my new city into this EP, the darkness, the fun, the love but mainly the diversity. It’s such a weird and unique city with plenty room for everyone to be themselves in and I hope that this collection of songs can give you just that feeling, that there’s something for everyone, and that you’re all welcome into my world.”
With her soaring, heavy-hearted vocal owning the spotlight with each release, Karlberg graciously explores the boundaries of pop without forfeiting an ounce of her musical identity. Splitting the difference between the downtempo, emotion-focused reinterpretations of her cover work, with the electronic-tinged and emphatic original works,her Single “When The Storm Is Over” displays the promising versatility of this consistently blossoming artist.
With its slow-burning, dynamic tension, the track carries an epic grandiosity that wouldn’t sound out of place soundtracking a spellbinding feature film. Led at first by merely a piano, Karlberg’s glacial voice tenderly washes over you with each passing cadence and when reinforced by slowly driving synths, it becomes nothing short of breathtaking.
When the track reaches its passionate plateau in the second chorus, it then unfurls into a rich tapestry of luscious vocal layers that pulls you into the undertow, leaving you to ruminate on the heady lyricism. Speaking to said lyricism in an email statement, Karlberg outlines that “the story behind the song is about a relationship that is on the brink of falling apart. You try to hold on to the last good parts before you realize that you just have to go through the storm, and all you can hope for is a rainbow before the storm is over.”
Her single ‘Do It Again’ tells an intriguing tale about a young woman who finds herself in a problematic relationship that isn’t going far anytime soon. Apparently, she feels her companion has inserted some type of poison into her veins, and now, she can’t control what she’s feeling. Later, she admits that she’s stuck on repeat because she’s caught under her companion’s dominating influence.
‘Do It Again’ plunges into shadowy fatalism, where pads and percussion orbit Karlberg’s vocals. Droning synths restrain the cracking snare and gurgling bass tethers the stratospheric risers. Furthermore, “Do It Again” serves as a tasty appetizer to what listeners can expect to hear on Sofia Karlberg’s upcoming sophomore EP, set to be released late in 2021.
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