Sophie West’s debut doesn’t arrive with the intention of impressing, but of making honest music. “Long Time Coming,” her first EP, is a brief yet revealing work that gathers years of personal searching into three songs that function as chapters of the same story.
In her own words, “This EP truly has been a long time coming, not just because these are songs that I’ve lived with for years, but because I finally had to become the person who was ready to share them.”
The Denver-based singer-songwriter delivers a project where folk-pop blends with cinematic arrangements, polished production, and a voice that moves between fragility and emotional strength. Sophie explains that, although it wasn’t planned consciously, “Long Time Coming” ended up functioning as a closed narrative of a period in her life.
The starting point is “Outrun My Mind,” a song that represents the moment she decides to leave everything behind and hit the road, with all the mixture of fear and sadness that implies. It’s an energetic opening that combines ethereal guitars and expansive, almost filmic percussion to narrate the vertigo of beginning.
The second track, “Just Once More,” settles into a warmer terrain, with influences of blues, soul, and Americana. It’s the transition between detachment and rebirth, a middle ground where the past and future meet. The more organic instrumentation allows Sophie’s voice to breathe, sounding more confident and reconciled.
As for “Note To Self,” an intimate ballad built around piano and string quartet, Sophie says it was one of the most meaningful songs to create. Once finished, she recorded a simple piano-and-voice demo and sent it to her friend and collaborator Greg Leistikow, who immediately imagined a string arrangement. From that idea came a spontaneous collaboration with a quartet that brought the song to life in the studio. That orchestral touch elevated the track, turning it into an emotional and luminous ending for the EP.
“I wrote all of these songs during a really chaotic time in my life, when everything was falling apart, and I made this extreme decision to leave everything behind and live in my van and just travel. That trip ended up being one of the best things I’ve ever done. It was an emotional rollercoaster at the time, but it ultimately helped me reconnect with myself and my music,” Sophie assures.
Musically, “Long Time Coming” is an example of how simplicity can be sophisticated. Sophie combines modern production with classical roots, finding balance between acoustic and orchestral elements.
Although the EP presents itself as a personal story, its sound reaches something universal. Sophie West transforms introspection into a collective experience, with lyrics that invite listeners to pause and hear what we usually silence. Her debut not only marks the beginning of a career but also the arrival of an artist who understands that vulnerability can also be a form of strength.
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