Especially in this day and age (deep sigh), songs that genuinely have the power the make everything feel like it’s not all absolute shit for a few moments are in preciously short supply. This makes Montreal singer-songwriter Sophia Bel‘s latest offering, the supremely sweet “I Won’t Bite” all the more valuable.
For a singer often noted for her (gentle) punk, emo, and grunge influences, the song may be something of a surprise. Here’s she mining the sounds of her youth, leaning blissfully into Alt-Country, all the way down to the presence of soothing banjo. Bel explains, “I listened to a good amount of pop country when I was a teenager and I wanted to let myself fully explore my throwback, a recurring theme in my artistic expression.“
The song itself is purely good vibes, as enchanting as it is endlessly inviting. She shares, “‘I Won’t Bite’ is pure bliss, it’s a warm summer breeze that turns your insides to mush, it’s a dragonfly on an august evening that lights up your senses and you want to hold it but you know you can’t. I wrote this song in a state of euphoria, with that feeling in the back of my mind that nothing is to be taken for granted. It’s the honeymoon stage with a hint of the terrifying fear of losing someone.“
Indeed, however joyous the song is on the surface, you can indeed detect that lingering fear, making it all the more human and striking.
Check out “I Won’t Bite” below and stay tuned for more from Sophia Bel very soon, as she’s preparing to release her pandemic era (and proper debut) album, Anxious Avoidant come April 15th, via Bonsound.
