Sophia @ Café de la Danse, Paris 2009

Photo from Leaky Sparrow - Robin Proper-Sheppard (Sophia) – Café de la Danse, Paris – May 21, 2009 - More pics here

Three years after his last performance with Vito (read) for the released of his previous album Technology Won’t Save Us, Robin Proper-Sheppard and his Sophia Collective returned to Paris. More than that, Sophia took the stage of Le Café de la Danse as “top of the bill” exactly where he played as “support act” of Chokebore in December 1998, eleven years ago. I was there too, such a long time now…
Sophia is a steady band still delivering his sad-core music despite the changes of musical styles that rose since one decade. Records after records, shows after shows, the same feeling, the same mood, the same quality, Robin Proper-Sheppard has a gift for writing and a voice to interpret his poetry (as a reward, Robin will be invited by Mister Bernard Lenoir himself for one of his famous broadcast White Session in one week).
Meanwhile, last Thursday, Sophia played a solid show in front of fans that came to hear the new songs from his forthcoming album There Are No Goodbyes but also to hear few masterpieces from his back catalogue like The Sea, Ship In The Sand, I Left You and The River Song. Robin didn’t come alone, he was backed by a full band and string quarter, ten people on stage in total, who were perfect even during the acoustic songs than during his fully electrifying ones.
There Are No Goodbyes will be out 27 April 2009 with a bonus CD (more here). I will make a short review in one of my next posts.

MySpace: myspace.com/thesophiacollective
Web: sophiamusic.net
Robin’s Blog: theflowershoprecordings.blogspot.com

Sophia - Lost (The Valentine's Day Session).mp3
Sophia - Call Me On Your Way Back Home.mp3
Sophia - Ship In The Sand.mp3