Taken from this week’s Future Pop mailer. Click here to subscribe.
Last year I wrote about sister duo Chloe and Halle, who had signed with Beyoncé’s new management company/label, Parkwood Music. I didn’t mention that they’d also picked up another teen girl singer, Sophie Beem. Although Sophie doesn’t yet have a big online following like Chloe and Halle, her experience includes auditioning for The X Factor USA in 2012 (she made the top 40, aged just 13) and performing original songs at a TEDxYouth event. Last week the 16-year-old from New York’s Upper East Side premiered Skyline, her first new song since signing to Parkwood. It suggests her sound has changed in direction, from the 90s rock/singer-songwriter vibe of her old songs to a more mainstream, pop-R&B style. The choice to premiere the single on Seventeen magazine’s website pleasingly suggests Sophie intends to appeal to teen girls, unlike many new female artists of her age who seem to be pitched to an older male audience these days. Sophie wrote Skyline with Kinetics and One Love, best known for their work on Melanie Martinez’s recent album. On Soundcloud, Skyline is credited simply to Parkwood Music, so we’ll have to wait and see if a major label comes on board, or perhaps reveals they are already involved.
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