She may have been 15 minutes late on the Forest stage with no explanation, but Sofia Isella, the rising alternative singer-songwriter, burst onto the stage like a filthy banshee, ready to take names. She dove into “Out in the Garden,” and as she strummed a heavily reverbed guitar, followed up with “Hot Gum.”
The young songwriter, who found fame on TikTok and is the daughter of a renowned cinematographer, Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), wore a white XL T-shirt and baggy cargo pants absolutely caked in mud. Her hair and face were also filthy, and this is kind of the point. Sofia Isella is rejecting everything to do with the modern “hot woman pop star,” the exact antithesis of someone like Zara Larsson who was playing mainstage an hour later. She kind of looked like the Corpse Bride, up there, the difference being her eye makeup was, in fact, mud. She did switch to another XL sweater, equally grubby, and the fans seemed to love it.
Her music is about female empowerment and blatant misogyny that peppers our world. Still, she is performing alone to a backing track while switching between guitar, a frenzied violin, and a banjo, and it does get quite sameish, four or five songs in. Her voice is visceral and powerful, and she sings like someone who has been physically and mentally abused (even though she is only 21), and it does add to the industrial maelstrom. But after five songs, I was rather apathetic and decided to make my way back to the mainstage. I think Sofia Isella is quite talented live, but it’s hard to match the sullen atmosphere of her recorded music.
