Sophie Coran’s fourth single “Circles” shows the Philadelphia-based artist’s numerous strengths. Lavish string flourishes and gripping vocals captivate from the get-go, as does an immediately striking sense of tonal variation — showing cohesion in the transition from this string-laden intro to soulful key-laden entrancement. The “swimming in circles,” vocal hook features glistening piano alongside memorably emotive vocals, leading to the beautiful “trying not to drown,” vocal lead-in. A string-forward bridge shortly thereafter continues the track’s strong grip. Stellar songwriting, excellent production, and a consuming vocal performance are constants throughout “Circles,” a testament to Coran’s melodically soulful sound.
“Circles” is engineered and produced by Michael Cumming, featuring the work of Coran’s full band (Logan Roth on keys, Arjun Dube on drums, Mike Morrongiello on bass). String arrangements are written by Coran.
Coran says the following about “Circles”: “I love using the metaphor of water in my songs, playing on the idea of swimming in circles, trying to navigate a relationship and realizing there may be no solution. It’s somewhat of a tragic love song. We wanted to create a huge string section harking back to film scores of the 1950’s and 60’s and in keeping with the Noir & B sound, to be very cinematic and nostalgic, whilst remaining current.”
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“Circles” and other memorable tracks from this month can also be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of March 2020’ Spotify playlist.
The track is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Indie Soul.
