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Maija Sofia

Alternative // Dublin, Dublin // she/her

Maija Sofia is a songwriter and artist from rural Galway. Her debut album 'Bath Time' was released in November 2019 through Trapped Animal Records. By turns arresting, intimate and strange, her songs are built around striking electric guitar, intricate lyrics, harp, analogue synth and more experimental instrumentation. The album was critically lauded as the arrival of a poignant, genuinely original new talent, receiving full-mark reviews and a nomination for the RTE Choice Award Irish Album of the Year. It was described in the Sunday Times as "quietly breathtaking [...] the arrival of a unique new voice."

In the last twelve months she has been commissioned to make new music by the National Concert Hall, Cork Midsummer Festival, Sirius Arts Centre and the Dock arts centre, and has performed online in various settings including the National Concert Hall, Other Voices' Courage series and Live from Guerilla Studios which included collaborative performance with Katie Kim and Lankum’s Radie Peat. She is currently putting the finishes on a second album which will be due for release in 2022.

"A real timeless quality is rare in so much of modern music, but the delicate timbre of Maija Sofia's music is impossible to ascribe to particular moment. She doesn't occupy an easily identifiable space - there are few genres which could accurately pinpoint her sound - and the ease with which she weaves grand tales of mythos into short and delicate folk tunes suggests a true finesse. Her subject matter is seldom trivial - abuse, mythological stories, feminism and loss are considered with a confident serenity.."
- Andrea Cleary, The Irish Times

PRAISE FOR BATH TIME
" There is a timeless quality to Sofia’s songwriting style that becomes more crucial with each listen." 5/5 Louise Bruton, The Irish Times

"awe-inspiring depth [...] a triumph" 10/10 The Last Mixed Tape

"a natural storyteller [...] people will be listening to Maija Sofia’s work for many, many years to come."
Zara Hedderman, Totally Dublin

"Brutally beautiful. The messages of Bath Time are vitally important. " 9/10
Craig Howieson, The Line of Best Fit

C O N T A C T

marjie at islandermusic dot net