Susannah Joffe's new single, "Sofia Coppola," is a twitching fever dream of obsession, the kind of love that sounds like more sacred devotion than a passing crush. Draped in rich, vintage soundscapes reminiscent of Amy Winehouse's soul-drenched croon and Lana Del Rey's grandiose cinematic sweep, Joffe constructs a love song that's both intimate and untouchable, an old Hollywood starlet hazily framed in soft focus.
"Sofia Coppola" is a boozy confession, wavering between admiration and obsession. "I'll braid your hair then fuck you on your dad's old sofa Idolize you, my Sofia Coppola," Joffe sings, retrofitting a film director's cult of personality into a metaphor about romantic obsession. It's a song that indulges in the fantasy of love as poetic, nostalgic, and just a little dangerous.
Joffe has a talent for incorporating religious imagery into her songwriting. In "Sofia Coppola," she elevates infatuation to worship. The "Sofia Coppola" of this movie is an avatar of all that's intoxicating about falling for someone soft, elusive, and entirely out of reach.
With "Sofia Coppola," Joffe is crafting a mood. It's the sonic equivalent of sunlight coming through lace curtains, of the flirtation of a lingering look across a crowded room, of a love so cinematic it belongs on 35mm.