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Los Angeles singer-songwriter Sonja Midtune has moved from the acoustic, nostalgic, sad-girl tunes of her previous albums and has plugged in her electric guitar to bring us her new uplifting indie-electronic EP, Golden Girl (out Nov. 11).
“I’m just tired of writing sad songs” Midtune says. “I was fed up with myself and wanted to have more fun with my music, so I made music that was more up-tempo, more flavor, with the ‘volume stuck on high’.”
The 5-song EP is inspired by the title track “Golden Girl”, a song that Midtune wrote several years ago, but had a different energy than the rest of her music. After being pent-up during the pandemic, she was ready to record it and make more songs with this new, raw energy.
“It was a crowd favorite but didn’t seem to fit into the rest of her set.” Midtune says. “A few years ago, an extreme situation got me used to extremes. When things settled down, I missed the highs and lows. I had to put that feeling into a song to get it out of me.”
Sonja recorded the “Golden Girl” single with producer Sean Oakley. The song inspired them to record four more songs for an EP. Oakley’s experience engineering for Rick Rubin (Kayne West, Lana Del Rey, James Blake) and his producer experience (Georgia, CHAMPS, La Roux) give a unique indie-electronic twist to Midtune’s music. All while keeping her lyrical signature that lands somewhere between Sharron Van Etten and Cate Le Bon. “Golden Girl” features Midtune on electric guitar (her new custom Trussart), as well as acoustic and synths, Oakley on programming/production, Michael Champion (CHAMPS) & Mikey Wagner (Andrew McMahon) on bass, and was mastered by Rupert Stansall.
“The recording process was 100% fun 100% of the time,” says Midtune. “Every song had a magical recording moment which is what I call when you start experimenting with instruments and come up with the perfect sound by accident. ‘Golden Girl’ has this moment with the do-doo guitar lick in the background. I would go home from the studio absolutely buzzin’ and sometimes I was scared we weren’t going to be able to have the same energy while recording the next song, and then we would!”
Midtune’s previous ‘sad song’ releases have resonated with her audience, and her last EP, Dreams Melt Away (2020) proved to be a big stepping stone in her career. She created four hand-made candles sold as a “listening experience” to go with the four tracks of the EP and completely sold all of her stock several times over. Songs from the EP were played on over 70 radio stations around the country, and almost a year after she released it, her song “Pretty Please” gained wild traction on TikTok and has jumpstarted a new page in Sonja’s career. With nearly 30k followers and her videos reaching 500k views, her monthly listeners have increased 10x in the last few months alone.
“I’m just tired of writing sad songs” Midtune says. “I was fed up with myself and wanted to have more fun with my music, so I made music that was more up-tempo, more flavor, with the ‘volume stuck on high’.”
The 5-song EP is inspired by the title track “Golden Girl”, a song that Midtune wrote several years ago, but had a different energy than the rest of her music. After being pent-up during the pandemic, she was ready to record it and make more songs with this new, raw energy.
“It was a crowd favorite but didn’t seem to fit into the rest of her set.” Midtune says. “A few years ago, an extreme situation got me used to extremes. When things settled down, I missed the highs and lows. I had to put that feeling into a song to get it out of me.”
Sonja recorded the “Golden Girl” single with producer Sean Oakley. The song inspired them to record four more songs for an EP. Oakley’s experience engineering for Rick Rubin (Kayne West, Lana Del Rey, James Blake) and his producer experience (Georgia, CHAMPS, La Roux) give a unique indie-electronic twist to Midtune’s music. All while keeping her lyrical signature that lands somewhere between Sharron Van Etten and Cate Le Bon. “Golden Girl” features Midtune on electric guitar (her new custom Trussart), as well as acoustic and synths, Oakley on programming/production, Michael Champion (CHAMPS) & Mikey Wagner (Andrew McMahon) on bass, and was mastered by Rupert Stansall.
“The recording process was 100% fun 100% of the time,” says Midtune. “Every song had a magical recording moment which is what I call when you start experimenting with instruments and come up with the perfect sound by accident. ‘Golden Girl’ has this moment with the do-doo guitar lick in the background. I would go home from the studio absolutely buzzin’ and sometimes I was scared we weren’t going to be able to have the same energy while recording the next song, and then we would!”
Midtune’s previous ‘sad song’ releases have resonated with her audience, and her last EP, Dreams Melt Away (2020) proved to be a big stepping stone in her career. She created four hand-made candles sold as a “listening experience” to go with the four tracks of the EP and completely sold all of her stock several times over. Songs from the EP were played on over 70 radio stations around the country, and almost a year after she released it, her song “Pretty Please” gained wild traction on TikTok and has jumpstarted a new page in Sonja’s career. With nearly 30k followers and her videos reaching 500k views, her monthly listeners have increased 10x in the last few months alone.
“I don’t consider myself to be a so-called TikTok artist,” says Midtune, “since I’ve been releasing songs for eight years, but I certainly don’t mind the new fans!”
Upon releasing the Golden Girl EP, Midtune will release a Golden Girl candle, tour the Pacific Northwest, record acoustic versions of the songs, make music videos, and continue to organically grow her fan base. The music video for “Golden Girl” will be out this fall, and Midtune is already writing songs for her next EP, so we can expect much more music in the future.
“Sonja’s voice, honeyed and rich, infuses the lyrics with delectable timbres of sadness laced with quixotic passion, as she reflects on the electrifying energy of love.” – Guitar Girl Magazine
“Her vulnerability is as fetching as the harmonies that she unleashes in the track, which are quite possibly the most earnest and solicitous of any she’s ever recorded.” – IndiePulse Music
“Straddle[s] the line between dramatic and catchy pop, and earthy folk and Americana. She does this all with a sense of honesty and confidence.” – Glide Magazine
“On the indie folk edge of the Americana music amalgam, Sonja Midtune will beguile you with her carefree style.” – Americana Highways