Her voice is haunting; it caught my attention right away. I’ve always carried a love for unique, raspy female vocals. It’s a refreshing change from the millions of pop songs that sound like they’ve been sung by the same person. 

Sophia Stephens is a fresh, eighteen year old singer/songwriter with that natural and unusual sound that can truly captivate an audience. She’s been writing her own music for years already, but only has a handful of music available online. Today, Sophia has finally reached that maturing point where the music is turning into magic. I could hear this clearly in her latest single, Fervor. 

While her previous debut EP was fine, this was the song I know is going to open that door for her. Fervor is very well produced in comparison to her earlier work, and it’s just got more bite. Those of us who hunt down the true and independent are always hoping to come across something like this. Fervor feels to me, when I listen in the quiet of my space, like a strong and identifiable message that defies traditional assumptions in love. 

The lyrics remind me of an older timeline in my own life. Whether she meant to or not, she composed a song that made me remember that internal undercurrent of my own youth. 

I’ve listened to the evolution of the sound from your debut EP to your newest song, Fervor. There’s a drastic change there; the emotion is much stronger and the overall performance is really graduated from your former songs. Have you done anything in particular to make this happen? 

Since I’m still young, any time spent between songs is going to have growth between it because I’m gaining so much more knowledge as I go. I’ve been taking vocal lessons since my second year of high school and this has helped me a lot to grow more confident in my voice and to be able to put in more emotion. I think with Fervor I was also more confident in what I was doing with harmonies, as I have more practice with those now.

Your songs have this kind of passion (sometimes, dare I say, dark…) driving them that’s reminiscent of a younger generation. Can you tell me what inspires your songs? And especially Fervor– that’s really the one we want to know the story behind if there is one.

I really want my songs to be able to connect to people, so I try to put in a lot of emotion into writing the lyrics and singing them. If I’m not feeling some sort of rush by the time I’m done recording, I haven’t done something right. For Fervor, and most of my songs I wasn’t feeling a particular emotion or having a response to something going into the writing process. I just really liked the word ‘Fervor’ and sort of based the song around it. However when I was singing Fervor I really tried to act while I was singing because I find it gives the song more power. So I pictured myself yelling at someone while I was singing the song.

It worked! Will this song be a part of a full album, or are you keeping it singular?

Fervor is a transition single. Right now I’m in the process of recording for my upcoming album, and Fervor is moving into the themes I will have on that larger work. Fervor is hinting at fearing love because of the risk of getting hurt. The album I’m making is discussing love as a whole and how dangerous it can be, when all love will eventually end with some kind of pain.

I want to thank Sophia for letting me interview her, and I personally can’t wait to hear her upcoming music—especially if it holds the emotion and nostalgia I heard in Fervor. And I’m grateful I got to be one of the first to hear of this young and revivifying artist from Indiana. 

I encourage anyone who appreciates genuity and heartfelt music writing to take a listen to this beautiful song: 

Follow in IG: https://www.instagram.com/sophia.stephens.songs/

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sophia-stephens/1582361714