Sody - real growth takes time EP

Sody’s EP, ‘real growth takes time’, is a dazzling array of effervescent pop, suitably modern tinged with moments of more classic piano balladry.

The teenager is precociously talented, despite threatening to quit music aged 12 after she didn’t win Teen Star, an international singing competition for young voices. This fire to be the best has fuelled her in her fast rise upwards – whilst others slobbed in front of Netflix all through 2020, she has been steadily writing and recording.

The EP’s name ‘real growth takes time’ is a lyric taken from the opening track ‘butterfly’, the central image of the slow transformation into a butterfly exemplifying the considered and thoughtful lyricism that’s threaded throughout the album. The track alternates between a wilful boldness and a breath-taking vulnerability in what is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser.

It is followed by ‘you don’t have to hold it all together’, an emotive number that drums the titular mantra in with a starkly honest choral drill. Her vocals hold out after the last chord fades in a stab of vulnerability as she addresses her father in a moment of unpolluted intimacy. ‘time again’ is a more pared-back, guitar-led number in line with the likes of Gabrielle Aplin, Sody’s confessional vocals twisting and lifting in gentle harmonies to wrap yourself up in. It is this emotional openness that she excels in, having previously likened the song-writing process to a kind of therapy, fuelled by a determination to prove the nay-sayers wrong.

This is pleasing pop from a future chart-topper, and a timely reminder to make time to be gentle.