Sophie, one of the most important figures in the last decade of underground pop and dance music, has died. A statement tweeted by her Future Classic label on Saturday morning (Jan. 30) confirms the artist’s passing, explaining “Our beautiful Sophie passed away this morning after a terrible accident. True to her spirituality she had climbed up to watch the full moon and accidentally slipped and fell.” She was 34.
Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, Sophie Xeon inherited an interest in dance and electronic music from her father, and started recording her own music at a young age. In the early ’10s, she struck up an association with a few artists on the PC Music label, soon to be at the experimental pop vanguard, and released her debut single “Nothing More to Say” in 2013. It was her follow-up single, the double-sided “Bipp”/”Elle,” that first drew wide notice for its alternately jarring and alluring combination of elastic, abrasive beats, irresistible pop melodies and pitched-up vocals.
