Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Sophie Monk, Ditto Music 2021.
Sophie Monk used to be a member of the all-girl band Bardot and this single is a long way away from the sorts of stuff that Bardot released.
To start with Bardot’ popish tracks didn’t offer the scope for Sophie to showcase her extraordinarily powerful voice nor the excursion into late-night smoky jazz/blues genres.
This song sees Monk finally return to music from her other pursuits in modelling, acting and as a TV personality.
The track was co-written by Monk and Gary Pinto, Brad Pinto and Thomas Tan while she was in Melbourne performing on The Masked Singer.
The song was mixed by Justin Stanley (Mark Ronson, Prince, Beck) and also features former Prince horn player Phillip Lassiter, so some heavy hitters have been involved in its recording.
The Pinto brothers formed the R&B band CDB in 1991 in Melbourne and since its breakup Gary has been writing for a broad cross-section of well-known Australian artists including Guy Sebastian, Anthony Callea, Christine Anu, Jimmy Barnes and others.
He’s even written songs for the German pop band Monrose.
His brother Brad is an accomplished writer himself, he co-wrote the Triple J Hottest 100 hit single Boys Like You with rapper 360.
Nice To Meet You is an impressive smoky blues track delivered with just the right amount of power and seduction to hook you in.
The impressive video, on YouTube, was filmed in the Hang Low Bar 31 in Sydney and sees Sophie performing with her band to selected late night customers.
The setting and atmosphere perfectly suit the song.
Sophie feels that the time is right for her to return to her main love, singing.
She says of the song: “for the first time in my musical career I feel like I am in complete control and I’m excited about the opportunity to be able to do this.
“I hope everyone enjoys the track as much as I did recording it.”
