You can read my article for BBC China on singer songwriter Sophie Yau here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ukchina/simp/entertainment/2010/08/100818_ent_chinesesinger.shtml
Here is my text in English:
A Melodic and Spiritual Debut EP from British Singer Songwriter Sophie Yau
By Zoë Baxter
Singer songwriter Sophie Yau launches her debut EP this month - Some Great Union in the Sky. The EP is a culmination of many years of musicianship and is heavily influenced by American folk music.
Sophie Yau was born in London’s Camden – an area famous for it’s vibrant market and live music scene. Sophie’s parents then decided to move to East Anglia, where, like many British Chinese, they opened a takeaway food business. Whilst growing up Sophie also spent some time in her parent’s birthplace – Hong Kong. Her early musical influences were mainly pop – both Cantopop and 1980s British pop music. Later on she was introduced to Christian pop and hymns (both traditional and modern).
Sophie began to play the guitar age 17 and has not looked back. Whilst at university in Bristol Sophie began singing to accompany her guitar strumming and gradually started to write her own songs. It was during this time that she began to listen to American folk music, which would influence her singing and guitar playing style.
Moving back to London after graduating, Sophie has been fine-tuning her music – touring the open mic circuit and playing in many bars and clubs. In 2009 Sophie debuted at the City Showcase festival in London’s Chinatown.
The EP Some Great Union in the Sky is a collection of songs which are all quite paired down – the focus is on Sophie’s sweet lilting vocals and the guitar led melodies. The song with the strongest hook is Even If I Try, co-written with guitar player Jean Guy Sylvestre. Sophie explains the lyrics: “Me and my mate Phil had just watched ‘Independence Day’ at the cinema and decided to walk the hour and a half walk it took to get back to our village. On the way we talked about aliens, and gods and the compulsion to believe in something bigger than ourselves. It’s like a reflex.”
Other songs on the EP are also contemplative and there is definitely a spiritual theme. For example Brothers on a Hill is about a week that Sophie spent at a monastery in France: "They prayed 3 times a day in this massive hall with candles and songs sung in every language. I spent a lot of time sitting in the back with my feet up. It was weird and it was wonderful and I found a kind of peace there that surprised me because I wasn’t aware that I was at war with myself.”
I asked Sophie if we could expect an album to follow on from the EP: “It was kind of interesting with the EP - by the time we finished recording we were playing a fairly different live set to the songs as recorded on the disc. The album will feature the 5 songs on the EP, plus 5 news ones.”
The Sophie Yau UK tour will hit the roads soon. There are also plans afoot for collaborations with beats producers for remixing some of the EP songs. It will be
interesting to see what effect the remixes have on Sophie’s style – adding more layers and textures will hopefully enhance the musical direction and let her dreamy singing style shine through.
Links:
http://sophieyau.com/
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/SophieYau
