Sophie is an Indie Latin artist from the UK, and she just released a strong new ballad. Now the name might not ring a bell, but I’m hoping it will soon. When I heard this track first, I was a bit taken aback. I am a complete and absolute sucker for slow ballads of a certain type. This song fits that type, with a beautiful nylon string guitar and dreamy, Latin-inspired vocals. If you want another gorgeous nylon string guitar section, try listening to “Really Love” by D’angelo, which features Isaiah Sharkey’s playing. Anyway, I was fearful when I listened to this song for the first time because I liked the mood it set so much. I was waiting for it to drop the drums, be it a drill, trap, or dancehall beat. But that drop never came, and I couldn’t be happier for it. This track is a smacker. While you are in the zone, you can discover other similar tracks such as:

Soledad y el Mar - Natalia Lafourcade, Los Macorinos

la luna enamorada - Kali Uchis

Tú - maye

• Dulcito e Coco - Vicente Garcia

All these songs have a sort of similar sound, some sounding more modern and some more traditional. Either way, there is a lot to be celebrated in the Latin music scene. Sophie is a first-generation immigrant with Colombian and Cuban heritage. Of course, her music draws inspiration from these sources. In her lyrics, she often covers themes such as love, self, spirituality, and reflections on the inner workings of herself. These themes are a given match for the melodies and instrumentation in 3AM, hand in glove. Along with her Latin influences, she also has a certain love for Lana Del Rey and musical theater songs.

The soundscape in this song is very dreamy. The nylon string guitar is processed with some reverb and delay, as well as the vocals. The phrasing of the vocals shifts from longing, drawn-out phrases to more conventionally rapped lyrics. We hear some dreamy background vocals that help build the suspense. The background vocals are even further back in the mix, with more reverb. This makes the song a lot bigger. When you try to fill up a space with reverb, it can get muddy really fast. But because this song is already stripped back with very few elements, it works very well. The background vocals function almost in the same way that a backing string section or string pad would, just giving a little bit more harmonic richness and floatiness to the feeling of the song. The bass follows the chord changes, playing long notes on the first beats of every measure. I think the bass might be a slightly distorted double bass, but I can’t be completely sure. Either way, it still adds a lot of body to the song because it drops out and comes back in the choruses. This might be a good example for songwriters. If you are working on a song and feeling stuck, the gut instinct is often to add something more. Try instead to strip away your song to its core elements and clear up space in the soundscape. Sometimes it works surprisingly well!

I think this song is a perfect example of making “less is more” work. While a producer could have taken care of this track and added more defined rhythms and overall complexity, it would not have been at all the same song. This song makes me longingly nostalgic for a time I didn’t even experience. The song makes me want to lose love just so I can go back and be comforted by it. Well, I already explained that I am a sucker. Really good stuff!

Author: Peter Källman

Peter Källman is a writer from Sweden who loves playing in bands, writing reviews and going to live shows!