Debut Album How to Perform Magic Out Now: Listen to Titular Focus Single ‘How to Perform Magic’ as In-Store Tour Begins Today and Headline UK Tour Is Set for March

“How To Perform Magic is an extremely easy record to like.” ★ ★ ★ ★ Dork

“Hooky, vivid and resonant” DIY

“One of the most exciting names in UK indie” Wonderland

“One for your radar.”Lauren Laverne, BBC Radio 6 Music

“She’s one of those artists that finds the art in everyday life” Jess Iszatt, BBC Introducing Radio 1

Today, Leicester-via-London songwriter SOFY unleashes her long-awaited debut album How To Perform Magic. The album balances deep self-reflection with a charismatic vitriol targeted at the music industry’s ephemeral nature, and arrives alongside indie rock and trip hop fusion title track ‘How To Perform Magic’ – her favourite song on the record. SOFY is celebrating her debut through a series of in-store shows, starting tonight at Kingston’s Banquet records store. Purchase tickets HERE – all tour dates, including upcoming headline 2027 shows below.

Written and recorded in Camden with longtime collaborator and bandmate Edward Denholm in almost total isolation, and later mixed by Mercury Prize-nominated Nathan Boddy (Olivia Dean, Oklou, Nilufer Yanya), the album draws its title from the focus track. On it, SOFY sings, “I’m a magician, and for my favourite trick, I’ll ruin everything! It’s quite incredible.” – a stark collision of self confidence and self destruction that mirrored her inner dialogue.

The record opens with the layered question, “something new… is that what you want? Is that what you need?”. It’s a direct jab at the music industry’s obsession with the next hot commodity, the systematic expectations placed on female artists, the constant demand for content in today’s digital economy, and an artist’s internal struggle with identity and reinvention.

This sense of catharsis and renaissance defines the project. How To Perform Magic uses touchstones like Massive Attack, early The XX, and Radiohead, and traverses themes of dejection, imposter syndrome, and disillusion carried by guitar-led melancholy, dusty breakbeats, reverb soaked vocals and low-slung basslines. The result is an enchanting blend of trip hop, garage rock, britpop and breakbeats from an artist who refuses to be put in a box, but knows exactly what she wants to say. In the quintessential SOFY manner, it’s unflinching in its honesty, but at the forefront is a distinct willingness, a burning passion, and a refusal to let go of something she loves so dearly.

On the album’s release, SOFY states, “The debut album is such a line in the sand and a cornerstone of an artist, and this is a very introspective record, I feel like I learnt loads about myself when I was making it. It touches on a lot of themes: self destruction, burnout, anger, depression, jealousy, lack of identity, and it can be quite sardonic and vindictive at times but there’s also a lot of hopefulness and humour in there. I genuinely feel as though it captures not only who I currently am as an artist and person but also the times we’re living in – I’m dead proud of it.”

LISTEN TO HOW TO PERFORM MAGIC HERE

Written in the midst of intensive digital burnout, mounting industry frustrations, and the heavy emotional rollercoaster that comes with your late 20s, the record captures SOFY becoming untethered. From the outside, all appeared bright: a FIFA soundtrack placement, a loyal fanbase (or army of “rats”, as they call themselves), Glastonbury appearances, sold-out shows across the country, opening for Sabrina Carpenter, Liam Gallagher and Kasabian, and praise from Arlo Parks, Sam Fender and Yungblud… not a bad feat for a largely self-funded artist who has built her career with no major label or industry backing.

However, beneath the surface was burnout, pressure, and a spiralling mental decline. “It’s a symptom of this fast food culture of music over the past few years,” she notes of virality culture. It affected every aspect of her life. Her attention span, her creativity, even her relationships. Temporarily removing herself from the online sphere was the only way to ensure she wouldn’t circle the drain. “I actually feel like me again.”

“I’ve always felt like songwriting is its own kind of magic… but at that time, it genuinely felt like the only thing that could fix everything was waving a magic wand,” she admits.

“For better or worse, music is still the love of my life.” She remarks.

Through it all, SOFY sees songwriting as a kind of sorcery; a way of turning an overwhelming and chaotic chapter into something tangible on her own terms. How To Perform Magic stands as a tribute to that transformative power, setting the tone for her highly anticipated debut.

How To Perform Magic Track Listing:

40 Minute Masterpiece

DooYaa

Wishbone

How To Perform Magic

Cashmere

Headlock

Saturation

Jealousy’s A Fever

Nintendogs

Superfriend

50/50