Based in Adelaide, but born in the Philippines, Sofia Menguita debuted in 2019 at just fourteen years old. Steadily releasing music since, aside from a short creative hiatus, she’s earned slots alongside Jamie Lena and aleksiah. Booked to round out 2024 with performances at Marksenfest and WOMADelaide, the artist has also unveiled an evocative EP, Growing Pains.
The project opens with ‘Dad Song’, falling straight into the pensive and thoughtful process of experiencing age as you grow up. The naivety is immediately broken, no longer innocent of her family’s struggles. ‘Puddle Jumping’ is an ode to childhood, the loss of mindlessly absorbing the world becoming central to Sofia’s struggles within the here and now.
The graceful folk-pop continues to expand, and the delicate acoustics and powerful vocals continue with ‘Dan’. Even love is endlessly confusing, the layers of vocals bouncing through the internal conflict. ‘If You’ turns a corner, bringing a brighter smile to the audience before ‘I’ve’ moves to an otherworldly sense of reignited hope, the spacey electric guitars and settled drum rhythms backing a climactic vocal. Rounding out the project, Sofia has taken the audience on a journey of growth, with brutal maturity, but delightful grace.
“This record was written about navigating through relationships and adversity as a young, father-less, teenage girl. It is a re-introduction to the music scene, authentic to who I am and how I feel. I was inspired by the production of Pinegrove’s “Skylight”, and the delicate-ness of “Sling” by Clairo. I had the pleasure of working on it with my partner, Matthew Burgess, who also produced the single “Everyone I’ve Ever Loved”. He understood and took care of my vision, so it’s safe to say that this is my most favourite project to date”
Check out ‘Growing Pains’ here…
