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Music

Sofi de la Torre Is "Pop Done Right"

We talk to the rising Spanish singer about her retaining creative control, avoiding double chin selfies and Mexican tequila turning a good girl bad.

Spanish pop singer Sofi de la Torre has made her own category of pop music, and she’s even hashtagged it. The 25-year-old up-and-comer wasn’t quite sure how to define her pop-leaning tunes, but to her, it just sounded like "pop done right." Having previously made music that fell into the category of folk-rock, she changed her tune to pop back in 2014 when she released the single “Vermillion.” Later that year came her debut EP and in late November, de la Torre released her latest EP, Mess, featuring lush pop bangers she'd been holding onto until the time was right. Judging by how songs like “Mess” and “19 In Mexico” have caught on, it’s looking like her timing was on point.

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Premiering on Noisey is a vibey remix from Italy's MACE of de la Torre’s “ London x Paris,” which reminds us of sweaty, sensual NSFW dancing at the club. Check out her new tune and read our interview below to see why de la Torre isn’t a big fan of the Spanish pop scene and why she's keen to retain her creative control.

Noisey: Congratulations on your Mess EP coming out. I feel like US-wise there haven’t been a ton of pop singers coming out of Spain.
Sofi de la Torre: Definitely not. Especially because I’m from the Canary Islands, which are a small group of islands off the coast of Africa. Politically we belong to Spain, but geographically you’d think that it was Africa on a map because we’re that close to the African coast. In general, it’s pretty weird that anyone there does music and much weirder internationally.

Why do you think there’s been a lack of musicians breaking through to the US scene in the pop world from Spain? Recently there’s been Hinds and you, but otherwise there haven’t been a ton.
There aren’t a lot of acts that do pop in English and when they do, it’s not very good. You can hear a terrible accent. In general, I think the music industry in Spain—I’m not such a big fan of it. There’s good stuff in Spanish that sometimes comes out, but I feel like it’s not the kind of thing that would resonate in the US or any English-speaking country. The musicians that do, do it in English and don’t do it well. A lot of musicians don’t have a lot of experience abroad so they try to mimic a type of accent but it sounds kind of weird.

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Did you always work on your music? Your Instagram made me think maybe you modeled.
I actually started writing songs when I was 14 when I was in school. My music teacher would make each student write a song. I didn’t play an instrument at the time, so I wrote a poem and put a melody to it in my head. I took it back to him and he was like, "Hey you can actually write." So, he sent me home with a keyboard from the school and I taught myself to play some chords. I started taking it more seriously. When I was 18, I graduated, went to LA, and took a music course there. After that, I didn’t really think I could do music as my career, so I went back to school and started studying media and communications in London. After that, I started up with music again. Things started picking up and getting buzz. Really, that’s been my only thing. I like to do all my artwork, so I do all of my graphic design. I’ve only had creative jobs in music or art. Thanks for the modeling thing though. It’s very flattering.

What’s key for taking a good selfie?
Never take them from a low angle because that double chin will pop out without fail. If you’re doing a selfie, take it from above. Try to look natural—don’t over-pose too much. If you have someone else taking it for you, posing sideways and looking at the camera is cool. Keep it simple, really. Don’t overdo it.

You use a hashtag #popdoneright a lot. Did you come up with that? What does it mean?
Yeah. It was a moment of enlightenment. People would ask what type of music I do. In some features, they would say it’s pop or alternative pop. It doesn’t really sound full on pop or indie pop… "pop done right" is what came to my mind because it has R&B influences. I’ll just take a bunch of influences and I’ll make them into my own and put it out into the world. For me, the easiest thing for me to say was, "I make pop done right." It was kind of a fun hashtag that caught on.

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You just released your second EP Mess. What’s the story behind it?
It’s funny because the title track of the EP I had written maybe a year ago. I had it in storage because it has a really big hook that sounds big and radio-friendly. I didn’t want to release it because I didn’t want to burn it in a way. When you’re independent, it’s tricky because you don't’ want to burn at an early stage in your career because you think it might be a good track to release when you have a bit more of a following later in your career. That track was weird because it has this big thing, but at the same time it’s edgy and not mainstream. For this EP, I was like, I have to release something a bit more poppy and in your face because I’ve done all of the melancholic stuff. I love it, and that’s where I excel, but I want to share this fun, messy part of me, which is what “Mess” is all about. I felt like now was the right time to do that, and it’s resonated quite well, which I’m really happy about. “19 In Mexico” and “London x Paris”—the slow, more vibey songs are the ones people take more to—but surprisingly enough people are really loving the last song on the EP, “Colorblind Cruisin.” It’s really cool because it’s upbeat and fun in away, but still has that "pop done right feel." Like, is it really pop, radio pop or really cool pop because it’s weird and they haven’t heard something like that before? The general vibe of the EP is that it’s something different from me because it has two songs I never would have released before in “Mess” and “Colorblind Cruisin” and then the more Sofi songs that are “London x Paris” and “19 In Mexico.”

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What’s your goal? Do you want to get signed or remain independent? Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I’m really ambitious with my music. I like to do it for the art of it. If I was doing it for the money, it’s not the right reason to do it because it’s not easy and it’s a struggle every day. I love to make music—I can’t see myself doing anything else other than that. The goals that I have for my music are big. I want to be on radio, and I want to be playing big shows. It’s very difficult, but something that the Macklemore effect would happen—how he was independent for years and then blew up big time and became the biggest star. That’s the ideal thing: that’s the best because you get to keep all of your creative control, and it’s the biggest reward to make it independently. It would be so good to not worry about how I find the funding for my next release. It’s not easy to release things when you don’t have a big budget but you have all of these ideas that are so big but you have a very limited budget. I’m open to partnering with someone bigger—I’ve spoken to labels, but it’s a matter of timing. I would never want to sign to someone prematurely, and I am very big on having creative control and having people to help me, but not want to re-do what I’ve done until now.

How do you come up with the concepts for your songs? Are they personal anecdotes?
With this EP, it’s funny because the “19 In Mexico” song was really anecdotal. I was out with my producer and we were talking about our first drunken experiences. I was like, "I started pretty late. I was a good girl until I was 19 in Mexico and got really pissed on tequila." He was like, "That’s a good title for a song, 19 in Mexico." I wrote the title down in my phone. We went back to his place and he played me this beat and the next day I wrote “19 In Mexico.” In some cases, it is very anecdotal. In some cases, I won’t have a title for the song and I’ll pick the catchiest part of the song. I try to pick unconventional names for songs. You have to catch someone just by the name of the song.

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I did notice the titles of your songs were pretty unique. I’ve gotta say, there’s something pretty special about “Colorblind Cruisin.”
I was so uncertain about that song, like the chorus is eight sentences long. No line is the same as the one before. It’s like the anti-pop song if you think about it. Then you hear it and it’s so catchy. It went against every rule of pop, and it still managed to sound so catchy, big and radio-y. It sounded so Spice Girls. I was a big Spice Girls fan when I was little.

Yeah, me too! It reminded me of In Living Color for some reason. So, who are some of your biggest pop influences?
For the past few years, I’ve been very big on Frank Ocean. He was a very big inspiration when it comes to lyrics and storytelling because his lyrics are so important. I make pop music, but I never want my lyrics to be banal. If you read them on their own, I don’t want there to have to be a melody for them to make sense. This past year and a half I’ve been listening to a lot of R&B, Drake and Kehlani. I love Kehlani. I love that she’s done everything on her own. Yesterday, I went to a Machine Gun Kelly concert. It’s probably the best show I’ve seen in my life. I love The Weeknd because he made the smoothest transition from underground R&B to hooky pop. He still sings about pussy, money and weed, but still manages to be number one in the pop world. Anything that tells a good story and adds a dope melody, I’m into.

How does style influence your music?
I’m very laid-back—when I’m onstage I don’t wear heels or anything like that. I’ll just wear sneakers and be comfortable. I played a show in New York a few weeks ago and I wore black spandex, bright orange sneakers, a camo tee and a beanie. Of course you can’t look like shit, but I don’t have to show crazy amounts of skin onstage. I feel like sexiness comes from a different side onstage. I always want to look good but I don’t want to show my belly or my legs. I’ll wear shorts of course—I’m from the Canary Islands so I wear shorts for a living. I don’t wear much makeup. I feel like it goes well with the music I make.

Ilana Kaplan is a writer living in Brooklyn. Follow her on Twitter.