The Secret Life of Sofia: Climbing to Brooklyn’s Highest Altitudes

[The Secret Life of Sofia is the August Jezebel Music NYC Monthly Feature Artist. The August Feature Show is at Union Pool on Thursday, August 21.]

Depending on your cup of tea, upon first listen to The Secret Life of Sofia your breath may not be taken away. There are no axes being shred, kooky voices wailing, or wild, off-time beats. Everything is wrapped rather tightly, polished with the modestly implemented but substantial ability of the band’s members; the operation runs so smoothly that you might not be able to perceive the abundance of musical talent each possesses. After one performance, unenthused by the band’s “mellow, harmless hippie sounds,” one reviewer went so far as to call TSLOS flat out “uncool.” A more narrow-sighted, naïve view of The Secret Life of Sofia could not exist. Mellow; yes…although certainly not all the time. Harmless; certainly not.

Photo by Josh Goleman

Although the roots of the majority of TSLOS songs are based on guitar chord arrangements, Seven Summits, the band’s first full-length release, is by no means the simple fleshing out of a singer/songwriter’s compositions. Without the well thought out arrangements and intricate instrumental accompaniment, lead singer and principal songwriter Kyle Wilson’s exceptionally well written songs would be seen in a much different light.

Largely responsible for the band’s sonic texture is Eric Schwortz on electric guitar, backing vocals, keyboard and percussion, and drummer/glockenspielist Steven Leventhal. Rounding out the live roster are two newer additions to the band, Fraser McCullouch (who engineered/produced Seven Summits) on bass guitar, and Chris Brazee on keyboards, both of whom were members of the recently defunct May 2007 Jezebel Music NYC Feature Artist, Mistakes. Save for Wilson, who rotates between acoustic and electric guitars, and Leventhal, who keeps behind the kit holding ground, Schwortz, McCullouch and Brazee frequently switch between instruments from song to song meticulously providing appropriate sounds. One of the band’s signature devices is a background element provided by a wash of reverb and delay on electric guitars and keyboard, most notably used on “Fifty Fourteeners” and “Sheet Stealer!,” that creates a soft, shining wall floating above rolling vocals melodies and sauntering percussion. Above it all are lush two, three, and even four part harmonies, showcased most notably in “Outside.”

The Secret Life of Sofia is highly capable of letting the hammer come down hard, breaking out into peaks of sonic intensity to close songs, but their trademark is a seemingly effortless implementation of dynamics, and the ability to artfully craft complex landscapes through sound. It is the combination of the band’s musical terrain with the lyrical and thematic elements of the songs that makes The Secret Life of Sofia truly unique. Through stories of engagement and interactions with nature, Wilson is telling stories of human nature itself; specifically, the instinctual desire to accomplish monumental tasks, survive in the face of incredible risk, and attempt to conquer Mother Nature. But in the struggle of nature versus man, nature always wins.

Seven Summits deals almost exclusively with the outdoors (track #3 is actually entitled “Outside”) and nature, specifically mountaineering. The legendary seven summits are the highest of each continent’s peaks, and climbing all seven is an extremely engaging physical feat, the accomplishment of which many climbers have become obsessed with. As goes with climbing any mountain, the danger and risks are significant. Throughout Seven Summits, Wilson makes use of references to well-known tragic mountaineering tales:

Aleister Crowley (1905) leads a team of climbers up Nepal’s Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world; an avalanche takes four lives: “Crowley having nightmares of tumbling from the face / rattling his body like the bars of a cage” (from “Nepal, 1905”) — Willi Unsoeld (1976) and his daughter Nanda Devi Unsoeld climb Nanda Devi, the second tallest mountain in India; Devi dies from a blood clot and remains on her namesake to this day: “no one understood why I didn’t feel at fault / but I’d only introduced you to the glory of mountaintops” (from “Nanda Devi”) — Richard Bass (1986), the first person to climb each continent’s tallest mountain, co-writes Seven Summits, a book detailing his feat: “why were you so obsessed with this? / now you’re free to give back all the time you wasted / out on the seven summits” (from “Seven Summits”) — Beck Weathers (1996) is stranded and left for dead on the treacherous South Col of Mount Everest; Weathers suffered severe frostbite and subsequent amputation: “when you let it go it’s actually quite nice / the shivering subsides and everything feels fine / you will meet your wife and kids so you can say goodbye / to everything you knew” (from “Weathering”).

The Secret Life of Sofia’s rapidly expanding fan base, regular show dates, and growing media attention will remain a mystery to those who might call a song about a guy who lost his arm from frost bite on Mount Everest “harmless.” But to those who listen just a little closer, the rewards are plenty.

by Dan D'Ippolito

http://www.myspace.com/thesecretlifeofsofia