FRIDAY, MAY 27 — Led by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Sophie Gault, Nashville alt-country outfit Sophie & the Broken Things shared a new video for their single “Heavy Metal” off their acclaimed debut album Delusions Of Grandeur (Petaluma Records). It premiered last week via Americana Highways, who notes that Gault “sounds a bit like Lucinda in this one.” Gault shot the video with Mikayla Lewis, Jason “Shakes” Hostetler, and the album’s co-producer Twon Haugen at East Nashville’s beloved neighborhood music venue the 5 Spot, saying, “It turned out looking a lot like an old MTV video which I love.” In celebration of the video’s release, Sophie & the Broken Things returned to WMOT’s Finally Friday for a live performance from Eastside Bowl. WMOT’s Craig Havighurst applauds, “Delusions of Grandeur is a punchy, raw and tuneful country album, one of my favorites this year.” Tomorrow, May 28, the band will perform in Nashville once again for Musician’s Corner‘s 3-Day Memorial Day Weekend Celebration. They go on at Noon Central with Lilly Hiatt headlining at 4:45 PM.
Delusions Of Grandeur released earlier this year to considerable acclaim with No Depression calling it “a sterling debut LP…full of vivid storytelling and timeless sounds that establish the group as a new talent worth knowing,” and Holler adding, “You can feel the breadth, depth and sheer variety of Gault’s musicality and songwriting skills running right through this impressive debut.” KUTXpraises Gault’s “enthralling vocals,” and Twangville calls her “a welcome new voice in country and Americana.” Gault initially introduced Delusions Of Grandeur through a duet with fellow singer/songwriter Logan Ledger on the lead single, “Trouble,” which the Nashville Scene calls “delightfully funky.” Wide Open Country premiered the track’s music video below.
WATCH: “Trouble” ft. Logan Ledger
Delusions Of Grandeur follows Sophie & the Broken Things’ 2020 eponymous EP, which Billboard Magazine says “offers an introduction to the group’s diverse stylistic range, from the honky-tonk flavor of the opening ‘Paper ID’ to the smoothly melodic ‘Johnny.'” Gault began writing many of the songs after moving to Nashville in 2014 and serendipitously meeting Americana icon Julie Miller at local haunt Bobby’s Idle Hour – an experience meaningful enough for Gault to honor Miller’s song “Broken Things” with her full-band moniker.
While recording Delusions Of Grandeur, Gault caught the attention of another Nashville legend: GRAMMY Award-winning producer Ray Kennedy, who is known for his own country hits from the early ‘90s, as well as his work with artists such as Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, and Lucinda Williams. Serving as an unofficial advisor throughout the tracking process and then mixing and mastering the resulting 10-song set, Kennedy has fostered a special interest in the project, saying, “Sophie’s songs have a cozy familiarity with a feeling reminiscent of some of my favorite records from the ’70s: timeless yet new, with an emotional delivery I don’t hear in other contemporary records. The lyrics combine visual storytelling with melodies that make me want to sing along, and the band electrifies the many moods with textural tones of nostalgia to full-on rock ’n’ roll.”
Gault co-produced Delusions Of Grandeur with musician-engineer Ryon Westover and bassist Twon Haugen. While parts of the record’s sonic skeleton – with its 12-string guitar, resonator, pedal steel, and dobro – evoke the bold rootsy styles of artists like Margo Price, Sturgill Simpson, and Lucinda Williams, Gault’s modest but deeply emotive vocal vibrato also calls to mind the rivetingly vulnerable performances of Jewel Kilcher’s early music. Both the timeless feel of the songs and Gault’s guitar skills are fueled by early years living on a Maryland farm, listening to and imitating the likes of Freddie King and Keith Richards, as well as a musical bond she’s shared with her father since childhood.
“My dad was big into music and he was really big into blues and early 60s rock and stuff like that,” explains Gault. “So that’s what he always played and we would play together. I [channel] a lot of his riffs that he taught me so it always will come out in my playing and my singing like, ‘Ooo, that’s from back home, definitely from back home.’”
Delusions Of GrandeurTracklisting:
1. Golden Rule
2. Churches & Bars
3. Feel Better
4. Trouble (ft. Logan Ledger)
5. Dashboard
6. Heavy Metal
7. Fire And Ice
8. Long Walk Home
9. Far Away
10. Parting Words