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Product (Sophie album)

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Product
Compilation album by
Sophie
Released27 November 2015 (2015-11-27)
Recorded2011–2015
Genre
Length25:26
LabelNumbers
Producer
  • Sophie
Sophie chronology
Product
(2015) 		Oil of Every Pearl's Un-Insides
(2018)
Singles from Product
  1. "Bipp"
    Released: 17 June 2013
  2. "Elle"
    Released: 17 June 2013
  3. "Lemonade"
    Released: 28 July 2014
  4. "Hard"
    Released: 4 August 2014
  5. "MSMSMSM"
    Released: 1 October 2015
  6. "Just Like We Never Said Goodbye"
    Released: 16 October 2015
  7. "L.O.V.E."
    Released: 6 November 2015
  8. "Vyzee"
    Released: 27 November 2015
  9. "Unisil"
    Released: 28 January 2021[6]

Product (stylized in uppercase as PRODUCT) is the debut compilation by English electronic music producer Sophie. It was released by Numbers on 27 November 2015.[7] The 8 tracks on Product appeared as singles released from 2013 to 2015. The album was made available in "silicon bubble cases", and its release coincides with the launch of a line of apparel[a] and a "silicon product" resembling a sex toy.[9]

Upon its release, the compilation was met with mostly positive reviews from critics. In 2019, Numbers announced a re-release in limited quantities in its original format of four vinyl singles, each in a PVC case.[10]

Background

[edit]

Sophie debuted as a solo artist with the February 2013 single "Nothing More to Say", released via the London-based Glaswegian label Huntleys + Palmers.[11] Its follow-up, "Bipp"/"Elle", had been teased on SoundCloud in the previous year and was eventually released on Glaswegian label Numbers later in 2013.[12] The next single, "Lemonade"/"Hard", was released in August 2014.[13]

The singles collection Product was made available for preorder in September 2015. That month saw the release of "MSMSMSM",[14] and "Just Like We Never Said Goodbye" followed on 15 October.[15] The singles "Vyzee" and "L.O.V.E." were released in November 2015 alongside Product.

Critical reception

[edit]

Reviews

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.3/10[16]
Metacritic74/100[17]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[18]
Exclaim!8/10[19]
The Guardian[20]
The Irish Times[21]
The Observer[22]
Pitchfork6.6/10[23]
Q[24]
Resident Advisor4.6/5[25]
Spin9/10[26]
ViceA−[27]

The review aggregator website Metacritic gave the album an average score of 74 out of 100, which indicates "generally favourable reviews".[17] Exclaim! senior editor Stephen Carlick called the record "a snapshot of an exciting artist whose tightrope walk between sweet and scary, pop and avant-garde, has yielded some of the best singles of the past few years."[19] The Observer described the album as "disruptive, a sound pushing the limits of what constitutes pop and what is just an annoying noise you are inexplicably paying money for."[22] AllMusic's Heather Phares praised the album as "instantly addictive," noting similarities between the album's "uncanny valley version of pop music" and the output of the PC Music label, but describing Sophie's tracks as "even wilder, with sound design and effects that fall somewhere between Spike Jones and Aphex Twin."[18] Sasha Geffen of Consequence of Sound called it "one of the more mischievous music objects under the current atmosphere," adding that "Product blurs the traditional subject/object power relationship of pop music, bending desire as easily as it bends waveforms".[28]

In a mixed review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis praised "Bipp" and "Just Like We Never Said Goodbye" as "genuinely brilliant pop songs" but accused the rest of the album of "knackered posturing, tee-hee-it’s-meant-to-be-annoying irony, trite stuff about pop’s relationship to consumerism"; he concluded that Sophie was "sneering at" pop music rather than celebrating it.[20] Mark Richardson of Pitchfork lauded the "enduring brilliance" of the album's first two singles, but was less positive about the more recent material and suggested that the album format did the tracks a disservice: "music this compressed and this syrupy is best heard in small doses, before your ear gets tired listening to it."[29]

Accolades

[edit]

MP3 blog Gorilla vs. Bear listed the album as the 12th best of 2015.[30]

In 2020, Spin ranked Product the 25th best album of the decade.[31]

Track listing

[edit]
Product track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Bipp"3:00
2."Elle"3:44
3."Lemonade"1:58
4."Hard"2:54
5."MSMSMSM"3:35
6."Vyzee"3:22
7."L.O.V.E."3:38
8."Just Like We Never Said Goodbye"3:08
Total length:25:26
Silicon product
No.TitleLength
9."Unisil"2:06
Total length:27:32
Japanese edition[32]
No.TitleLength
9."Get Higher"3:00
Total length:28:26

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Product
Chart (2015) Peak
position
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[33] 23

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ There is no evidence of the apparel line ever being available for purchase. Both the platform boots and sunglasses are part of visual effects artist, collaborator, and fellow PC Music contributor Hannah Diamond's portfolio, labeled as 'SOPHIE - Virtual Merchandise'.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Rodriguez, Juan Edgardo. "SOPHIE: PRODUCT - Music Review". No Ripcord. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  2. ^ Mullen, Matt. "How SOPHIE and her Elektron Monomachine changed the sound of contemporary pop music: "Every single thing you hear should feel like something you've never heard before"". Music Radar. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  3. ^ Simon, Noah. "The best hyperpop albums of all time". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  4. ^ Idelji-Tehrani, Saam. "Bubblegum pop and PVC dreaming from Sophie". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  5. ^ Smith, Karl. "Remembering SOPHIE, 21st Century Pop Pioneer". The Quietus. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Unisil - Single by SOPHIE on Apple Music". Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  7. ^ Carley, Brennan (29 September 2015). "Sophie Announces New Collection, 'Product,' Out on November 27". Spin. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  8. ^ Amond, Hannah. "SOPHIE - Virtual Merchandise". Hannah Diamond. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  9. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (29 September 2015). "Sophie Releasing Singles Collection With "Silicon Product" (That Sure Looks Like a Sex Toy)". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
  10. ^ "Numbers. SOPHIE - PRODUCT REPRESSES". nmbrs.net. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  11. ^ Orton, Karen (22 February 2013). "Sophie – Nothing More to Say EP". Dazed Digital. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  12. ^ Fitzmaurice, Larry (10 October 2013). "Rising: Sophie". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  13. ^ Dunn, Francesca (31 March 2016). "a lesson in throwing shade by nabihah iqbal". i-D. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  14. ^ "Sophie – "Just Like We Never Said Goodbye"". Consequence of Sound. 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  15. ^ "SOPHIE – "Just Like We Never Said Goodbye"". Stereogum. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Product by Sophie reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Reviews for Product by Sophie". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  18. ^ a b Phares, Heather. "Product – Sophie". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  19. ^ a b Carlick, Stephen (25 November 2015). "Sophie: Product". Exclaim!. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  20. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (26 November 2015). "Sophie: Product review – forehead-slappingly obvious pop provocations from PC Music affiliate". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  21. ^ Carroll, Jim (20 November 2015). "Sophie: Product – Album Review". The Irish Times. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  22. ^ a b Empire, Kitty (29 November 2015). "Sophie: Product review – digital pop divorced from the analogue world". The Observer. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  23. ^ Richardson, Mark (2 December 2015). "Sophie: Product". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  24. ^ "Sophie: Product". Q (355): 118. February 2016.
  25. ^ Fallon, Patric (1 December 2015). "Sophie – Product". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  26. ^ Weiss, Dan (23 November 2015). "Review: Sophie Rebuilds Pop in His Own Mysterious Image on 'Product'". Spin. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  27. ^ Christgau, Robert (26 December 2015). "Grimes Embodies Hyperfeminism Individualism for a Post-Rock Mindset". Vice. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  28. ^ Geffen, Sasha (1 December 2015). "Sophie – Product". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  29. ^ Richardson, Mark (2 December 2015). "Sophie: Product". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  30. ^ ChrisChris (December 2015). "GORILLA VS. BEAR'S ALBUMS OF 2015". Gorilla vs. Bear. Retrieved 18 November 2022.
  31. ^ B, K. "The 101 Best Albums of the 2010s". Spin. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
  32. ^ "Sophie (42) – Product (BRC-493)". Discogs. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  33. ^ "Sophie Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
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