Wow. Sophia Kennedy’s Up from the new album is dark, powerful and damn good.

Sophia Kennedy, part of the DJ Koze cosmos, makes pop music the way we like it: a little playful, cross-genre, and with a lot of grooves. Her latest album Monsters is a delightful trip. It’s certainly not an easy album, but it’s worth spending a little time with it because there’s a lot to discover. Hidden among gloomy sounds and wry harmonies is a great beauty.  Up is a good example of this exciting pop, which manages to be exciting without having to make use of deliberate extravagances. Just as label boss DJ Koze knows how to place techno between club and mainstream, Sophia Kennedy manages to make pop interesting again.