Song-by-Song: ‘Misty Mountain’ by Sophia Yau-Weeks

Sophia Yau-Weeks: “I wanted to give myself permission to pursue music more seriously and write and record an album.” Photo: Cortney Morentin

Step inside a quiet folk album exploring solitude, illness and connection with echoes of Nick Drake and modern indie minimalism

Sophia Yau-Weeks has taken her time with Misty Mountain, a debut drawn from years of quiet persistence rather than any rush to announce herself. A classically trained violinist who came to songwriting during the stillness of lockdown, she developed these songs while living in London, balancing nannying work with evening appearances at the George Tavern and Windmill Brixton.

That stretch, complicated by the isolation of becoming immunocompromised, casts a long shadow over the record, lending it a hushed, reflective tone. Recorded to tape with Maryam Qudus, it moves with a careful, unshowy grace, recalling the intimacy of Nick Drake and the loosened forms of Big Thief. What follows is Yau-Weeks’ own account of the album, a song-by-song reflection on its making…

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MISTY MOUNTAIN

As someone who consistently ruminates and spirals, with an internal world marked by intrusive thoughts and the noise of uncertainty, I wanted to write about the experience of having mental health conditions while in a relationship with someone grounding and present.

The title track follows my journey as I am guided away from a metaphorical misty mountain, if only for a brief moment in time. I began writing this song with nature imagery in mind, and the story naturally unfolded from there. Sonically, I wanted the track to be atmospheric. There are field recordings of bird songs, distinct electric guitar licks, and even a string arrangement. The layered instrumentals mimic my layered internal world while still feeling somewhat quiet and bare. It’s one of my favourites off of the record.

NOBODY’S LAUGHING

Nobody’s Laughing captures a snapshot of time that was filled with great grief and self-reflection. I wrote the song over the course of two days: my 26th birthday, and the day following. I was reckoning with the social isolation I was experiencing as a newly immunocompromised person and pondering questions of who am I when I’m alone, who am I when I am forgotten, who am I when my self-concept is separated from how others perceive me?

It was the first birthday I spent without friends to celebrate with, and songwriting was the best way for me to process a changing life and body. I love writing songs that are both energetic and melancholy, and I think I achieved that with this song.

Sophia Yau-Weeks: “I love writing songs that are both energetic and melancholy.” Photo: Cortney Morentin

LONE WOLF

I wrote Lone Wolf stream-of-consciousness over a set of repeating cowboy chords. It is one of the more upbeat songs from the record. I had just become immunocompromised and was trying my best to avoid viruses like COVID. I felt heavily judged and misunderstood by my loved ones as I grieved and continued to be precautious, and I watched my friends begin to distance themselves from me when I needed them most. And so I begged, “I just need someone to feel my pain and hold it / If you take the time I think I might / be fine.”

MONSTER

Monster speaks to the imposed social isolation of being immunocompromised. In a world that has largely moved on from the pandemic despite its ongoing impacts, I wanted to create an eeriness to emulate the isolation while commenting on the scary thought that we all too can become the monster that harms, whether or not we see it. I decided to play around with different time signatures to create more sonic interest and used haunting background vocals and electric guitar parts to build that world.

SYLVIA’S HOUSE

I went back and forth as to whether to include it on the album out of fear it would be triggering and upsetting for people to listen to. Ultimately, I decided to include it to help me overcome the shame and guilt. I hope that it can help dispel that stigma for listeners too. We used a Nashville guitar when recording, which I think evokes images of innocence and childhood with its chimey sound. It was quite hard for me to sing in the studio because of how vulnerable the song is, and I think you can hear that in the fragility of my vocal.

THE RAIN

I wanted to write about the delicacy and insecurity of a relationship when you are experiencing doubt or uncertainty. The chorus is straightforward asking, “Will you remind me / why it is you choose to love me?” I really love the production on this song. The drums feel like a heartbeat or drops of rain, and the vocal feels raw. This song was an attempt to be more direct and simplistic in my writing.

Sophia Yau-Weeks: “It is about forging a path towards freedom and following one’s intuition.” Photo: Cortney Morentin

LOVE IS A GARDEN

I wrote this song shortly after getting in a fight with my mum. She came to visit me in London and, on our last day together, things boiled over into an argument. By the end, we were both crying. Once she left for the airport, I decided to write this song. This was another stream of consciousness track where I sat down and let it out over a few repeating chords. It’s about the ever-changing dynamics of a relationship – “Hues of green change / and so do you” – and how that relationship can only grow if you both continue to tend to it.

SPELLBOUND

In Spellbound, I sing over a resonant open guitar tuning accompanied by a three-part string arrangement. I knew I wanted strings on the record because I grew up playing violin. It felt important to have my very first instrument included on my debut LP. The song contemplates the interconnectedness of all things expressing, “All together / we’ll keep going ‘round / all together / from birth into the ground.” The song uses a lot of circular imagery and is circular in structure to emphasise shared experience.

FLY AWAY

The first song on the record I wrote, Fly Away, is about defying expectations, challenging social norms, and rejecting the pull of the machine. It is about forging a path towards freedom and following one’s intuition. This is the first song off the record that I wrote, and I think I wanted to give myself permission to pursue music more seriously and write and record an album.

KRISTINE

Kristine is about my Godmother, “Auntie Kristine.” I wrote this song as part of an Adrianne Lenker songwriting class. The assignment was to use one of her open tunings and guitar-picking patterns. My Godmother had just passed away and, as I was living in London at the time, I was unable to attend her celebration of life in California. So, I wrote the song for it using descriptions from my mother, and recorded the demo in my apartment. Of all the songs on the album, this one most closely mirrors the original demo. It is a gentle and stripped-back closer to the album.

Sophia’s debut album Misty Mountain is out now. Find out more at sophiayauweeks.com

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