Sofia Isella’s music inspiration is “horrifying”.
The singer, 21, who went viral with tracks attacking the porn industry ahead of the release of her new EP, Something is a Shell, has revealed her tunes are based on disturbing material including porn, as well as paedophilia.
Sofia told NME about her sings: “The context is not beautiful.
“The contents that I’m talking about are horrifying. They are scary and they’re disturbing, so anything else wouldn’t make sense.”
She added about her performance style – which involves her covering herself in dirt and screaming: “I love to give a physical sensation to people, rather than just going straight to the ears.”
Sofia previously spoke to NME in 2024 after she went viral with her early tracks such as Everybody Supports Women and The Doll People.
Her most popular track, which has also spread across social media, is Above The Neck, which charts the objectification of women.
She told NME about the tune in her latest interview with the publication: “When I wrote it, I was thinking of a combination of a bazillion different things, and one of the main ones was porn
“(Porn stars) wear Hello Kitty underwear, they put pigtails on and they cross their eyes.
“And they act as if they have no idea what’s going on. Which is hot to the men, and very disturbing and very creepy to me.”
Sofia added “everything about (females) has been directed by paedophiles”.
She also said: “And what is seen as attractive is to look as if there is no knowledge in you, there is no life in you. There is no desire to think of anything.”
The NME said Sofia is renowned for the “breathy spoken-word of her dark, discordant pop songs” as well as the “layered visual metaphors of her eerie music videos”.
It added: “There’s a gritty brutality to her music, like lines scratched in dirt.”
The publication said her new EP “turns that up an octave, prying apart lofty concepts surrounding God, morality and eternal damnation, dragging them back down to earth where Isella can break them down for parts”.
Los Angeles-born Sofia – full name Sofia Isella Miranda – has performed as the opening act for artists including Melanie Martinez, Tom Odell, Taylor Swift, Florence and the Machine, and Glass Animals after becoming an Internet sensation.
Her work blends Isella’s work blends alternative, indie, and dark pop music and frequently focuses on themes of women’s empowerment.