Many of us wanted to quit high school as a teenager and pursue music full-time, just like Sophie Powers did two years ago. But it turns out Powers is no ordinary teenager, and the future alt-pop superstar proves why with today’s (March 31) release of dynamo single “Nosebleed.” It’s the 18-year-old Toronto native’s debut for Atlantic Records, in partnership with Gabe Saporta’s TAG music, and it should propel her as a rising voice of Gen Z.
Because when she offers up “and we feel nothing even though we feel it all,” she’s reflecting a generation going completely numb. And she’s doing it through a musical cocktail that swirls across a galaxy of hyper-punk, glitch-rock, and whatever else looks cool as a hashtag. With a magnetic energy and an industrial propulsion, “Nosebleed” is positioned as a fiery rebuke to Gen Z’s societal expectations, with just enough detached-cool deadpan to make the olds uncomfortable and more than enough intrigue to keep them quietly hitting play. And it should vault her into another stratosphere, the next in line to follow the likes of Billie Eilish and Melanie Martinez.
“Gen Z is very messed up,” Sophie says via sophiepowers.com. “Society expects so much of young girls and women, it’s literally insane. This song is about keeping up appearances and then essentially just rejecting them, and one day not giving a fuck – but it’s also about how society as a whole is so fucked up where Gen Z is just numb from it all.”
Step into Powers’ growing world below.