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SOPHIE - Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides results

The participants sorted by deviation from final results:
Seanchan (6)
FoolFantastic (10)
MetalmindStats (10)
MaxGalactica (14)
HBJDubs (20)
hotdogturtle (20)
neonreaper (20)
Raetsel_Lapin (22)
Johnbobb (24)

General Album Comments

FoolFantastic: It's been a while since I typed up a long post about one of these albums, but I feel like this one in particular needs context. Like Portishead or Velvet Underground, I imagine this will be among our most controversial choices; even if you don't like the album, I hope I can at least shed some light on why this is so important to some people.

One of the more recent members of my top 100 albums, and also among the roughest listens. But, despite its harsh tones, this is a comfort album to me. Before Oil of Every Pearls Un-Insides (a clever way of saying I Love Every Persons Insides), SOPHIE had been a pioneer within the hyperpop genre. While the penultimate track of this album, Immaterial, is perhaps the best hyperpop as a genre has to offer, the journey there is loaded with tension and violent industrial production. It opens with a moment of calm, Its Okay to Cry, the sole track where SOPHIE sings herself. Despite having used the name from the beginning, SOPHIE actually publically came out as a transwoman with this lead single, and it was a brave choice to take that moment to sing for herself. The morning I learned of SOPHIEs untimely death, I naturally turned straight to this album, and this track had me bawling my eyes out.

Ponyboy, in turn, hits like a jackhammer. This is a pure club banger. Faceshopping hits just as hard, but with more nuance. There are two tracks here that I consider direct statements of trans-affirmation, and Faceshopping takes an unlikely approach. The whole of hyperpop is a statement on artificiality, and Faceshopping plays on that idea. Computers and the internet made it easier for us to both express ourselves and find a community. So, while SOPHIE herself sings on the opening track, this mechanical piece with another persons voice is just as much a representation of her. Im real when I shop my face, which is to say, even if some of us have to go to greater lengths, the way we present ourselves is ultimately what matters, not our supposed default state.

Is It Cold in the Water? almost passes as a comedown track, but the icy synths instead add a sense of dread. The following three tracks find the album going in a more atmospheric direction, key to the inner journey this album represents if not as gripping as individual tracks.

That long journey leads to Immaterial. If Faceshopping obscures the trans allegory in a dozen layers, Immaterial is its joyous opposite. At first glance, the term immaterial girl sounds like another bit of artifice, an inversion of the classic Madonna track. Yet SOPHIE is clearly aiming for a higher meaning; that we transcend the material world. The track itself is pure bliss from the beginning, but then we get to that legendary bridge, where the music drops to a low and slowly pulls itself back up. After offering comforting words to a past self, she declares I dont even have to explain/just leave me alone now she is not looking for your acceptance to be herself. She cannot be held down. The chorus returns as a grand moment of revelation, the production emphasizing the repeated phrase of I can be anything I want. For me, this track is a rare burst of gender euphoria, something I will forever treasure.

Whole New World/Pretend World is the extended closer, one of those tracks that feels like a sonic summary of everything that came before. Not my favorite, but its nice to have at least one more piece that captures the harsh industrial noises of Ponyboy/Faceshopping (and, while I love Immaterial, its too much of a high to structurally work as a closer).

Raetsel_Lapin: I think this may be my new favorite album that we've covered. I'd also like to thank our host for the added context on the album, it was a very insightful read.

Seanchan: I didn't hate it? I didn't hate it!

With some of those other controversial albums, it was clear after one listen that I wasn't going to like them because I couldn't find any "anchoring" song to latch onto. The 2nd and 3rd listens then feeling like pulling teeth and just further cement my negative feelings. Thankfully that was not the case here, and if anything I think the 2nd and 3rd listens helped a bit. Immaterial is obviously very catchy. Outside of that though, there's still something here, even if songs like Ponyboy and Faceshopping can get a bit too harsh/industrial for my taste.

Is this a favorite of mine? No. Am I likely to listen to it again? ...Probably not. But certainly it's better for me than some of the other controversial albums we've covered.

HBJDubs: I think maybe Grimes was the last album that I said the rankings were an accurate representation of the track quality? Regardless the same thing applies here - bottom songs bad, middle songs okay, top songs good. As I've said in the past though, I do like seeking out albums that sound really unique, and I'd say this fits the description.

MaxGalactica: Absolutely incredible album that's the pinnacle of hyperpop. All 9 tracks are very well-produced and have their own identity while still maintaining cohesion throughout. The harsh synths, and samples and such add so much personality to this album, with Ponyboy, Faceshopping, and Whole New World being amongst my favorites in the album. And Immaterial is obviously the big catchy highlight of the album and it never gets out of my head. Fantastic album with no bad songs.

neonreaper: Thanks for nominating this. I really enjoy the top 3 songs I listed (Cry, Cold, Infatuation). Some of the other songs are good and I appreciate that it reminds me of early Nine Inch Nails remix albums with the harsh sounds and trippy ethereal effects. Faceshopping was the only song I just didn't care for.