Sophia DeLeo "Drama Queen" Review

Being a new listener of Sophia DeLeo, I wasn’t sure what to expect – however, quite literally two seconds into hearing her voice, I burst into tears. Sophia has a resounding sound that evokes so much emotion, which pairs perfectly with the theme of her sophomore EP Drama Queen - a collection of different pieces of a coming-of-age story.

“Maggie Rogers”, the second single released off of the EP and opening track, sets the tone for the record as a whole. This song in particular is nostalgic of Taylor Swift’s early career as more of a folk artist, with story-telling lyrics and banjo playing.

The second track, “Everything”, lends instrumentals and melodies that place you in the moment with that girl, displaying an upbeat softness that is reminiscent of falling in love. The song encapsulates the feeling of a first-time love as a teenager in the lyrics alone as a full fairytale, which eventually trickles into the end of the relationship to give us a sort of epilogue to the scene. This leads into “david (voice memo)”, recorded from Sophia’s room entirely, making it incredibly easy to connect to the heartbreaking reality of the narrative it's mingled with.

“My Body Was My Own” flawlessly describes in detail how the pain of body image issues can affect your mental health as someone coming into their adolescent years. The tenderness of the piano and acoustic guitar give a contrast to the sharpness of the words they carry.

We close out with a very folky tune by the album’s title “Drama Queen”, which offers as an apology to Sophia’s younger self, giving her grace for the big emotions felt as a teenager. The song is airy in nature, offering a warm hug to the listener’s inner child. It’s an impeccable way to summarize this compilation of music.

10/10