"Sophie Hutchings"
"Sophie Hutchings"
Sophie Hutchings is a Sydney based composer and pianist. Whilst improvising and composing sporadically from her teens onwards as well as moonlighting with acts such as Bluebottle Kiss, Marty Wilson-Piper, Holly Throsby and her brother Jamie’s solo work her own work remained out of earshot.
A private outlet that enchanted those fortunate enough to catch Sophie off guard mid play. When she was finally coaxed into recording her material by Tony Dupe and Tim Whitten what became debut album ‘Becalmed’ was initially a mixture of vocal and instrumental pieces. However the wordless pieces seemed to invisibly take the reins with a power that was at once meditative and visceral. Sophie’s years of silence on the recording front had given birth to a recording that held an astonishing power. With the release of her debut ‘Becalmed’ on Sydney based label Preservation Records the album met with passionate responses all over the globe including UK music bible Mojo magazine who declared it as
“..Stirring, vigorous, grandly melodic…” and listed it in their top 5 underground releases of the year.
As well as touring locally and captivating audiences with performances both accompanied and solo Sophie has also found time to record her second album. In many ways Sophie’s debut lived up to the contrariness of its title. Like the sea it was both placid and malevolent, often in the same piece. ‘Night Sky’ her second album equals the nocturnal stillness of its title.The accompanying film clip ‘Shadowed’ (directed by her brother Scott Hutchings) is a perfect introduction. The hypnotic quality of the Australian bush, the pauses and spare field recordings all take the listener to a space that cannot be explained. Only felt.
