Earlier this year, San Francisco artist Sonya released debut album At What Cost?. What we described previously as “a succinct collection of songs as comfortable offering late-night emotion as it was an upbeat swagger,” the record introduced an artist who remoulds elements of pop, indie rock and shoegaze into something fresh and new. And it wasn’t just genres that it straddled, its blend of easy melodies, bouncy beats and chill vibes coming together to sound at once catchy and listenable but also suffused with real emotion. Take for example ‘Cincinnati (Right Now!)’, a song which Sonya says “encapsulates the pain & frustration of long distance relationships; pleading in desperation and ending in acceptance,” but does so with an air of effortless cool.
In the months following the album’s release, Sonya dropped several outtakes and b-sides that didn’t quite make the cut on his Soundcloud page. Due to popular demand, he has now bundled these together and released them as a separate collection, titled What’s The Alternative?, Demos. Despite the name, the songs are far more polished than the usual demos, forming something of a coda to At What Cost?, again walking the line between easy-going indie pop and emotive ruminations on relationship troubles. What he calls “a short love story on hard break-ups,” ‘Just Pretend You’re Okay’ is a great starting point, a barely two minute track of sweet pop hooks and fraught emotion.
