Julia-Sophie – Forgive Too Slow (Ba Da Bing Records)

From the very first moments the powerful undercurrent of Julia-Sophiedebut album of ‘s, Forgive too slowlypulls you deep under the weight of her untold stories of love and loss. A significant shift from her near-mainstream past with garage rock duo Small fish, Forgive too slowly artfully navigates the beautiful chaos of the pure human condition with stuttering electronic pop and dim ambient sounds.

Things start off purposefully and poignantly with ‘2:00 AM’ the fleeting late night chill underscored by conflicting emotional impulses. Whispered words slow down time: “It was fun for a while…” Julia-Sophie whispers, an ambiguous crack in her voice. The haunting quality of her bruised but not broken voice recalls Elena Tonra’s solo work as Eg.RE. By means of Forgive too slowlythe raw pain in her words is what sets this album apart from the descending longing of ‘I was alone’to the silent desperation of waiting for an answer that never comes ‘Telephone’ She says just enough to carry the burden of her feelings, but never so much as to betray the memory: “I’m waiting for you to call, but the silence breaks me.”

Julia-Sophie’s influences are embedded (never paraded) in the album’s structure and musicality. There’s a hint of Aphex twins‘s brutalist sound architecture, Power plant‘s precise tonal precision, and at its core the calmness of Thom Yorke, James Blake and artists who know how to perfectly balance the human-technology equation in electronic music. This mix creates an immersive, layered soundscape where analog synths and drum machines add tactile textures to mirror the visceral experience laid bare in the lyrics. ‘I was alone’ invites us with a seemingly innocent dance chorus, only to collide with the intensity of ‘Being driven crazy’where the buzzing rumble and jumping rhythms evoke a chaotic release, mirroring the steady self-erasure that builds over the course of the story: “Can you feel my heart breaking? / I’m lying with you for the last time / ‘Cause when I’m with you, I lose my mind”The trance pulse beats of the lead single ‘Numb’ also obscure the essential sadness of Julia-Sophie’s words and feelings of being caught between reality and what we want to believe is true: “I feel the weight of the world lost in my bones / Sinking alone / Love is not enough / It’s the crying and the crash”.

The songs are carefully arranged, so that Forgive too slowly a general story that is strangely enigmatic in subject matter and clearly about the interplay between inner turmoil and outer vulnerability. ‘Reassure you’ explores these contrasting moods as frenetic beats and heavy drones compete with acapella sections. Adjacent tracks ‘Traps’ And ‘Only U.S’ book-and-end this turmoil, unmasking conflicting facets of love, loss, and self-discovery. But, like eavesdropping on a heated conversation through a locked door, we never quite know where one story ends and the other begins.

‘Wishful thinking’ offers a moment of respite, the more conventional electronic pop offering us a deep breath after the intensity of the previous tracks. This conscious shift into a lighter, more hopeful space provides a necessary pivot point for the self-awareness implied in ‘Better’ . As it rises from its deep, low drone, Julia-Sophie’s voice reverberates in whispers that blend into the insistent beats: “Everything we can’t erase / We can stop and start again”.

Closing track, recent single ‘Telephone’ captures the true essence of Forgive too slowly. There is tenderness, desperation and nostalgia, all delivered in a recognizable and personal way. The simple, steady bass line and touching melody convey the bittersweet beauty that can be found even in our most vulnerable moments. It’s a nice touch that ‘Telephone’ is also a love song of sorts to Julia-Sophie’s home city of Oxford, and mentions the Cowley Road – a formative spot of historical significance in the local music scene.

If Forgive too slowly is a kind of artistic catharsis, it is never self-absorbed. Sit with it for a moment and you will hear that the small but vital nuances make it so much more poignant than casual listening can convey. It seems that Julia-Sophie has discovered a new voice in the quiet corners of solitude and reflection, and delivers a vibrant and sincere album that breathes real, unyielding life into electronic music.

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