Growing up semi-feral in a landlocked part of rural Galway, songwriter Maija Sofia's childhood solitude instilled an early devotion to storytelling. Detangling the weirdness, joy and bewilderment of existing, her music alchemises both the intimate and the overwhelming into striking singular songs. Living nomadically between various places and writing mostly at night, Maija’s lyrics channel nocturnal moments of late-night revelation, carrying a dark folkloric edge and the wistful romance of new wave pop.
Paired with a preference for analogue instrumentation and off-kilter arrangements, her sound recalls the innovative worlds of Aldous Harding and Kate Bush or the experimental folk of Shirley & Dolly Collins, but is undeniably her own. In 2019 her critically acclaimed debut LP, Bath Time, arrived via Trapped Animal Records.
Exploring the shadowed histories of sidelined women throughout history and mythology, it garnered widespread praise and a nomination for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize. She followed it up in 2022 with a single ‘O Theremin’ about being haunted by the man who invented both the first mass-produced electronic instrument and the first audio surveillance device. She is a recipient of the Arts Council’s Next Generation Award, has had her music performed by the RTE Concert Orchestra and has been commissioned to write new music by the National Concert Hall, Sirius Arts Centre, Solas Nua, Dublin Digital Radio and Cork Midsummer Festival. Her poetry has been published by The Stinging Fly, Banshee and elsewhere and she is the host of a mystic experimental Dublin Digital Radio show called Invocations.
Her second album'True Love' was released in September 2023.
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