Sophie Allison – better known as Soccer Mommy to you and me – is a beacon of hope for the masses of bedroom pop producers that are currently trying to follow her footsteps in a similar fashion.

You’ve heard this story before – young arts student drops out of university, tries to focus on their music but eventually the fervour fizzles out and we’re back to square one. 20-year old Allison is exempt from this rhetoric, though.

Her luscious, lo-fi soundscape, intertwined with relatable, raw wordplay is a winning formula; one so endearingly honest that it evokes nostalgic imagery of nights that never happened and ideas of requited love that even the most lovelorn of listeners feel forced to yearn for. Her most recent body of work, sophomore album Clean, emotes on a big scale. Looking through an introspective lens, Allison plays the role of the ingenue, one that has knowingly been damaged by their past – regrets, promises and memories interlace with one another to release a cathartic outpour, soundtracked by sparse, subtle guitar lines. On Last Girl, she sings “I am just a dying flower” – quite the contradiction from an artist that has just started to blossom into a self-assured, slacker pop songstress.

So then, how does her straight-forward style translate to a live set? Soccer Mommy’s bittersweet, bluesy pop comprises of flashes of distorted guitars and anguished, angst-ridden lyrics, sung through wispy, wavering vocals. The crux of her success essentially traces back to her beginnings; Allison uploaded live takes and bedroom recordings of early tracks to the ultimate haven for unsigned artists – Bandcamp. She still upholds this DIY ethos, both on record and on stage, and as a result, proves that simplicity is truly a form of sophistication. Unruffled by her burgeoning popularity, Soccer Mommy is, still, perhaps best kept secret, and maybe it should be kept that way. *whispers* Shhh… that’s not the only reason why we should stay quiet when she comes to town; as she sidles through the finest cuts from Clean and debut record, Collection, if you’re lucky enough, you may even get to hear the sound of a few hearts breaking around the room.

Soccer Mommy will play Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff on Wednesday, 12th September. Tickets are available HERE from Dice for £9.50.

Words by Sophie Williams

Twitter: @fluorescentsoph

Image c/o: Shervin Lainez.