Sophie Coran and Shelby Yamin Transform "Circles" With Delicate Intimacy and Intentionality
Sophie Coran and Shelby Yamin by Rachel Del Sordo
By Emily Herbein
One of the (many) reasons why I keep coming back to Sophie Coran is the individuality and ease behind her sound. Her live performances drip with this feeling of sensual confidence, and she refuses to be boxed into the jazz or R&B genres, so has therefore crafted her own space with what she calls Noir & B. It’s completely reflective in the intentionality behind her writing processes, with ultra-specific, lounge-esque lyrics and piano-based soundscapes. Her songs demand attention, and when she sings, you listen. Sophie is one of my favorite finds of this last year, and I was lucky enough to interview her and her husband Michael Cumming (of Treacle Mine Recording) for Our Date With in March, host her for Philly Live’s quarantine livestream series back in April, and even broadcast a stop on her “I Could Be Your” virtual tour in August. Pandemic aside, I’ve loved watching Sophie Coran and her band (Arjun Dube, Logan Roth, and Mike Morrongiello) grow over the last year. (They most recently put out a cover of Mitski’s song “Nobody” under Trap Rabbit, which I was happy to write up). I feel so privileged when an artist continues to choose to work with me, and this team has been a constant favorite of mine for a long time now.
The full-band studio version of “Circles” was released earlier this year with a celebratory gig at World Café Live, and now Sophie and longtime collaborator Shelby Yamin have reimagined the track as an intimate duet featuring only live strings and an upright piano. The song itself is slow-building in an intensely delicate way. The addition of strings completely emphasizes the sense of wanting that the lyrics mourn for. The song builds up an unparalleled level of intimacy that the full-band version of the track hadn’t yet matched. The song is all about wanting what you can’t have, and knowing that even if you could have it, it’s not going to work. The feeling of frustration and angst from the original recording is replaced with outright sadness and acceptance in the duet version.
The accompanying video, filmed by Will DeJessa, gives listeners a glimpse at the creative chemistry Sophie and Shelby cultivate with this session. The stunning, slow-panning visuals paired with the dim lighting, the softness of Sophie’s vocals, and Shelby’s perfectly matched string lines, make it feel like we’ve been granted access to something that lives only in that moment. It’s the definition of what a stripped-back session should sound and feel like. Sophie took apart a track that previously conjured images of unease and pieced it back together in a beautiful and heartbreaking way.
Of the production process, Sophie said, “I had arranged the strings for the studio version and then Shelby developed her part for this, making it really special. We filmed the video with Will at Treacle Mine Recording in Philadelphia, where I do most of my recording and rehearsing with my band. It was really fun to have this all come together the way it did, as a glance into my life with my musical and creative collaborators.”
While Sophie’s full-band performances are just as impressive, there really just is something about a musician who’s able to capture this level of intimacy within a song. This version of “Circles” listens like it’s meant just for you, and I think that’s an expert sense of closeness that isn’t always easy to convey. I’m not surprised at all by how this video makes me feel. If anyone can pull this out of a song, it’s her.
You can watch the live session for “Circles” with Sophie and Shelby below, and stream the track here, or anywhere else you find music.