Composing an Immaterial Body

This chapter dives into a musical example from the internet-bound genre “hyperpop” by the producer and artist SOPHIE, who has brought new and experimental sounds to the popular music scene while making music reflecting upon her identity as a trans woman. It includes close analyses of three sections of her song “Immaterial”: the chorus, the first verse, and the bridge. These analyses concentrate on the song’s vocal expressions as an auditory expression of SOPHIE’s identity, and especially how the use of the effects of formant shift, panned delay, hardtune, and compression mediate the song’s message by appearing to liberate SOPHIE from any physical limitations. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the vocal expressions as a collective representation of SOPHIE’s immaterial body and further reflection on how the song introduces a compelling form of diversity into popular music.