"Man, SOPHIE was an icon, a legend - gone far, far too soon. I don't even have any words for how iconic she is. I don't think she needs an introduction least of all from me.
This album holds a special place in my heart for a few reasons, main reason being that her music resonates with me as a queer & trans person. I'm not trans feminine, but I really felt her feelings, understood her lyrics. A specific song I always recommend to people, and ironically enough, always brings me to absolute tears is 'Immaterial'. It's her singing about her experience as a transgender woman, and there's lyrics she'd sung on it that just absolutely wreck me every time:
I was just a lonely girl in the eyes of my inner child
But I could be anything I want and no matter where I go
You'll always be here in my heart
Here in my heart, here in my heart
I don't even have to explain
Just leave me alone now
I can't be held down
I can't be held down
The way it's sung really struck me. Despite my constant desire to be masculine and to remove myself from the context of the little lonely girl I used to be... I cannot deny her or turn her away. SOPHIE singing that she'd always be there, in her heart, really, really rung true for me, especially because I insist that everything I do is for the little girl version of me who had no one - who wasn't loved, protected, etc. I do everything I possibly can to fulfill her and be the adult she needed to be, even if I don't identify with womanhood or girlhood in terms of gender anymore.
Above all, I feel this album explores the pains, the aches, the highs and the lows of the LGBT+ experience. Having this be SOPHIE'S only album is tragic and heart wrenching for me, as well as many others, yes, but by God is it important to the community and a relic. On top of that, SOPHIE was a PIONEER for Hyperpop as a genre. She made the beats herself, didn't sample like a lot of other producers. She was truly, TRULY underrated and we lost her before I feel she had a chance to really thrive, show us what she could really do. But then again, poetic enough that she leaves me wondering what she would be like today, what she'd think of the genre she helped to establish, what she'd make, having already left me with such a strong impression of who she was and what her work stood for. She was a marvel, a genius, vibrant, and wonderful. She was like a comet, here, there and gone within a flash, but amazing to have witnessed all the same. Thus, this album is such a good listen, such a good contender that I feel anyone and everyone should listen to at least once."