Looking back from the halfway point, a lot of the touchstone sounds of 2013 have been pretty out-there takes on electronic music from names that were already huge—Kanye West, The Knife, Jai Paul. SOPHIE’s profile is sitting at about zero, in comparison. But once the full year shakes out, the Londoner's new single will stick around as something significant too. "BIPP" is the massive A-side, with strange vocals (are they pitched up, or not?) and percussion synth things that both sound like and definitely don't sound like bubbles popping, then "ELLE" takes up those same instruments and does something completely different. I don't know how to say this exactly: What makes this single so cool is that it sounds totally unique—seemingly the benchmark for big names this year—while still sounding good.
Stream: SOPHIE's "BIPP" / "ELLE"
