OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES

OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES is the debut studio album from electronic producer SOPHIE, released June 14th, 2018.

SOPHIE left her label Numbers in 2015 after the release of her debut singles compilation, Product. For nearly two years, SOPHIE did not release any new solo music, focusing on collaborating with artists such as Charli XCX, Vince Staples and MØ. She continued to tour and play live shows around the globe, debuting many tracks that remain unreleased. A few tracks played at shows during this period would end up on her debut record in altered forms.

The album campaign started in September 2017, over a month before the announcement and release of the first single. SOPHIE announced that she would be playing an event the following month in Los Angeles; the event was dubbed her “live debut”, though it was unclear at the time exactly what that entailed; SOPHIE had been exclusively playing live sets since at least 2010.

Five days before the event was scheduled to take place, on October 19, 2017, SOPHIE surprise-released the album’s debut single, “It’s Okay to Cry”, along with a music video. The single marked her first solo release since Product, and was a monumental moment in her career. Not only was it her first release to feature her own vocals and image, but it also marked her coming out as a transgender woman, now living life as Sophie Xeon.

Delayed by six days due to venue issues, the event took place on the 30th of October 2017. The show marked a radical change for SOPHIE, who is usually seen live behind a table with her Elektron Monomachine. The event featured a host of new songs featuring Cecile Believe, costume changes and choreography with backup dancers. Vocals were performed live by Cecile throughout the show and the event closed with a performance of “Its Okay to Cry”, with SOPHIE performing live vocals herself.

“It’s Okay to Cry” was followed by two more singles, “Ponyboy” and “Faceshopping”, on the 19th of December 2017 and the 16th of February 2018 respectively. The live show was played again in New York and London, with increasingly elaborate costumes and choreography.

Most of the vocals on the album come from friend and collaborator Cecile Believe, formerly known as Mozart’s Sister. The pair collaborated in 2013 or 2014 on a track called “The Way I Am”, and likely connected in late 2016 to begin work on SOPHIE’s debut album.

Fans initially speculated that the album would be called Whole New World, largely because the first single was accompanied by the phrase “WHOLE NEW WORLD.” SOPHIE also opened her live shows leading up the album with “Whole New World/Pretend World.” However, SOPHIE made a series of personal Instagram posts on April 3rd, 2018, thanking her friends and collaborators and also confirming that, whilst the album was not titled Whole New World, it was finished and would hopefully be “out soon.” The album’s real title, OIL OF EVERY PEARL’S UN-INSIDES, was unveiled almost a month later in an intimate interview with Crack Magazine. The album’s title is a reverse mondegreen of the phrase, “I love every person’s insides,” a sentiment echoed by SOPHIE in album opener “It’s Okay to Cry”: “I think your inside is your best side.”

Oil Of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides was later nominated for Best Electronic Dance Album at the 61st annual Grammy Awards.