It’s been an exciting year for Soccer Mommy (a.k.a Sophie Allison). Her debut album Clean, released in 2018, was met with widespread acclaim, where critics particularly favoured her delicate vocals, dreamy guitars and intricate songwriting. Taking some time to enjoy her newfound success, the Nashville-born singer returned this September with her new single, ‘Lucy’. The track boasted ambitious production and even loftier visuals; when lyric videos meet the matrix.
Perhaps unforeseeable to a listener, then, but ‘Lucy’ seems to have marked a movement toward further artistic expression for Soccer Mommy. With the release of her new single today, ‘Yellow is the Color of Her Eyes’, Allison has gifted listeners to not only a bolder ballad, but a seven-minute short video to accompany the track.
The premise of the video is simple, to the point, but intricately executed by director Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell). Almost shot in one continuous tracking shot, the camera follows Allison as she poignantly strolls down a beachfront, voicing her fears of separation, and singing of anamorphic imagery (“I see her face in the waves”).
For Allison, the “yellow” of her eyes, and that which drowns each frame in its golden, sickly hue, is a symbol of the all-too-quick movement of time. Her reminiscing of eyes like clementines channels her desperation to recall memories and pair physical features with everyday items or nature itself.
Intercut between this journey are extreme close-ups, outlining facial features and the delicacy of the golden curtain that shrouds so much of the frame. These almost photographic images come together almost like a visual scrapbook, adding to this idea of reclaiming time, and engage us with the distinct physical features that make up our memories. This collection of wonderfully dreamy forms act as an appropriate visual component to the gentle riffs that populate the song.
The atmospheric long shot of Allison staring into the sea incites a sense of finality that is matched by her progression into the waves. All coherence seemingly drifts out the window as the final minutes of the song overlap previous close-ups and shots of the water. The saturated tones of earlier are intensified in the Kodak photography and sun-drenched orange haze that encases the final shot of the sea – a reminder that even rockstars must face the natural sunset of the day.
A sombre and somewhat sunny ender to a superb release from Soccer Mommy, Yellow is the Color of Her Eyes forecasts a golden hour of success for the singer, whose movement towards a more reflective and polished sound marks an anticipated new chapter in her discography.
Listen to Soccer Mommy on Spotify and Apple Music. Get the latest edition of our print magazine featuring interview with Mattiel, Molly Burch, Matt Maltese, Black Honey and more HERE.
