Sofie Royer – ‘Young-Girl Forever’ album review: mellow meditations on girlhood

Posted On November 14, 2024November 14, 2024

THE SKINNY: Sofie Royer only has two albums under her belt, but the Austrian synth enthusiast has also been steadily making a name for herself with endeavours outside of production. She lent her stellar taste to Boiler Room and NTS listeners, occasionally blessing them with a violin solo, and even dipped her toes, or brush, into the world of painting. Now, she returns to the studio, releasing her third full-length offering, Young-Girl Forever.

True to its title, Royer’s latest record delves into the trials and tribulations of being a young girl, the dangers wrapped up in bows and the constant pressure to smile through tears. She tackles the uncertainty of modern dating, the haunting presence of memories that may not even be real, and the strange FOMO-like feeling that still arises even when you know you’d rather not be at that particular party.

The record was entirely produced by Royer, which provides a real consistency in sound as well as tone. She leans heavily on synths, allowing them to swirl around her smooth vocals and cushion her ruminations on girlhood. Even when she’s singing songs she didn’t pen herself, inserting a cover of an old 1980s track, there’s a sense that Royer is driving the sound and feeling of the record.

However, as much as Young-Girl Forever charts Royer’s personal experience of being a young girl and her unique songwriting style, the record also thrives in the universality of the pressures it describes. The simultaneous hatred for the experience of girlhood and the longing to hold onto it, the indulgence in bad dating habits and the regretful, cringe-inducing memories that follow, running from your dreams and giving into chaos.

Once you’ve experienced being a young girl, that feeling does last forever, whether it’s in a glimmery synth-pop album or just in the way you act, the way you love, and even the way you see yourself.

For fans of: Staying in on a Saturday night, entertaining your situationship and ruminating on made-up memories.

A concluding comment from young girls everywhere: “Amen.”

Young-Girl Forever track by track:

Release date: November 15th | Producer: Sofie Royer | Label: Stones Throw

‘Babydoll’: A subdued introduction to Young-Girl Forever underscores Royer’s longings to be an “ordinary guy” with soft synths and swirling yet stunted vocalisations. The track sets the album’s main themes into motion, pushing into the doll-like experience of girlhood, with a raucous guitar solo to boot. [3/5]

‘Young-Girl (Illusion)’: Royer tackles illusions of girlhood on the almost-title track, detailing dangers wrapped up in bows and urging us to bury our tears beneath a smile. The instrumentation twists and turns between droning bass, 1980s-style synth verses and menacing, echoey vocals. [3.5/5]

‘Keep Running’: ‘Keep Running’ is a gorgeously gloomy pop song about running from your dreams. “I’ll keep running too,” Royer promises, her voice surrounded by layers, echoes and perfect synths. Her swirling voices only take a step back to let her strings playing sing. [3.5/5]

‘Indoor Sport’: Royer delves into the experience of dating in the modern age, kicking her feet up on the dash of her indecisive lover’s heart. “Breathless when I run toward danger that I once adored,” she sings over twangy synths, “and the ball is always in your court.” It’s another song to add to your list of modern dating anthems. [3.5/5]

‘Sage Comme Une Image’: Royer drops a cover into the tracklisting with ‘Sage Comme Une Image’, originally sung by Lio. Although it’s not a Royer original, it fits into the themes of the record seamlessly, delving further into youth and perfection, while her delivery and the synths that surround it are a little more playful and groovy than before. [3.5/5]

‘I Forget (I’m So Young)’: Royer picks up the energy once more on ‘I Forget (I’m So Young)’, which finds her rushing through sentences with youthful energy. “I’m so young, young forever, but I’m also dying,” she shrugs over subtle bass twangs and near-constant drums. Seemingly sure of itself but hiding a layer of anxiety, the song seems like a distillation of the album’s central themes. [3/5]

‘Ghost Town’: There’s a ghost town in Royer’s bedroom, and its population is made up of all of the memories she’d rather forget, as well as pumping drums and pointed synths. “So why am I being kept away, another sleepless night upstate,” she sings, hunted and haunted by nothing at all. [3.5/5]

‘Tigerbunny’: ‘Tigerbunny’ is a tiny but dense interlude that shows off Royer’s talent for harmonies and for screaming. [2.5/5]

‘Lights out baby, entropy!’: ‘Lights out baby, entropy!’ is a particular highlight on the record, opening with a blistering guitar line before falling back into that comfort zone of synths and sweet vocals. “Don’t even matter,” Royer sings, “‘cause it’s lights out, baby, entropy,” welcoming in change and chaos. [3/5]

‘Saturdee Nite’: As Young-Girl Forever hurtles towards its end, Royer turns to confused feelings of FOMO, admitting that, maybe, she doesn’t even really want to be at the party. “Everyone’s out having fun,” she sings, “but not the kind of fun I want,” while grainy guitar strums surround her. [3.5/5]

‘Fassbinder’: The closing track, ‘Fassbinder’, brings the record to an end with Royer’s smooth vocals, a stable piano and a bassline that occasionally comes to the fore. It’s not a particularly noteworthy or show-stopping end, but then again, neither is the end of girlhood. [3/5]

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