Dirt Under the Fingernails of Girlhood

My first impression of Sofia Isella was thinking she was older than she was. The hook of “everybody supports women until a woman’s doing better than you” in her track “Everybody Supports Women” was startling. For its resonance, yes, but also its boldness. While Isella’s anti-patriarchy lyrics are central to her artistry, it’s a subject most are not willing to stake their the totality of their platform on. Though she’s only twenty, Isella’s storytelling comes from a place of breadth, like she’s lived far longer than we know and has come to tell the tale.

Those who are sole listeners to her work miss out on a key aspect of her artistry, which is her visual presentation. Messy hair, oversized clothes hanging on her body, her live performances have a purposeful unkemptness to them. Not just this, but Isella is typically smeared with actual dirt and grime. Caked around her eyes, her wrists, she almost looks as if she has crawled out of a grave. 

Isella was warned about being “too political" early in her career, a concern she has since thrown to the wayside. A violinist since age three and songwriter by eight, her musical reflexes are strong, and there’s the awareness in her work that she is trusting the instincts she has worked to develop. 

Isella has two EPs already, both with six tracks. “I Can Be Your Mother” was released in 2024 and her latest, “I’m camera”, dropped last year. The overall sound is breathy and slightly grunge driven, of course, by Isella’s blunt lyricism. “Sex is everywhere,” she says in her newest single, “Above the Neck”, “And if it's not, then somebody will put it there / They'll put it there.” Other tracks like “The Doll People” write from the perspective of a woman who has already been diluted to just a body. “We are statues with a pulse,” Isella sings, “We are art you can fuck.” 

Isella’s songwriting is political, yes, but mostly to the point that being embodied as a woman in the world is political. The overt and constant oversexualization of women’s bodies is matched with many’s deep desire to govern them and the choices they innately carry. Isella’s disheveled appearance is in direct protest against the audiences that want her to be pretty and pure, a man-made expectation that is continually placed on women. That benign said, the goal of autonomy, bodily, socially, expressively, is intentionally weaved in every performance Isella gives. 

Isella’s popularity as an artist was sparked through both TikTok and her being an opener for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. In a video posted to Isella’s socials, Swift says that immediately after hearing her lyrics, she wanted Isella to be part of the tour. The moment was huge for Isella, who names Swift as an influence to her work. Others include Trent Reznor, Beck, Mona Awad, Slyvia Plath, Margaret Atwood, and Anne Sexton. There was no doubt a juxtaposition between Isella’s thrashing, punk-sound against other past-openers like Sabrina Carpenter and Gracie Abrams, who were more pop-stylized. And yet, the lyrics, a stark portrayal of feminine rage, captivated many listeners, like it was almost too hard to look away. 

And Isella doesn’t want you to. While each performance is unnerving, I think it’s supposed to be. Isella would rather present her understanding of the world than be the soundtrack to someone’s party, or morning commute. While some could make the argument that her art is on the nose, sometimes subtly is a privilege. Isella spells out society’s injustice toward women artfully, yet painfully clear. 

Her newest track will drop on January 29th, Isella’s twenty-first birthday. The song, titled, “Numbers 31:17-18” is from a disturbing biblical passage, which instructs the Israelites to kill all women who are not virgins and “keep” those that are. “If I hear context one more time…” Isella wrote in a past Instagram story after experiencing backlash from Christians. 

While Isella is Gen-Z, she is absolutely interested in the various foundations that still influence our society today. This is probably what makes her art seem so wise: her desire to engage with seemingly “untouchable” source material. 

Yes, Sofia Isella wants to shake the ground we all stand on. She wants us to question the systems that are held together at the expense of others. Just like her art, it’s uncomfortable, undoubtedly gritty work, but messy for a purpose, like it’s reaching toward something brighter, more truthful, than before.