Phliine Sonny is our latest one to watch. The German singer, songwriter and producer has recently released her sophomore EP, Invader. Packed with emotion, intricate storytelling and strength, Philine leans into a discovery of resilience and hope, over guitar-driven hooks.

"One of the overall themes of the EP is a feeling of not belonging, overstepping lines, and disrupting or ‘invading’ spaces," she says. "...Going to therapy probably really helped shine a light on that issue and made me realise it’s been a big thing for me for quite some time now... Moreover, what I’ve noticed over the course of making the EP is that being a producer has become more and more important to me. It’s what I spend most of my time on, it’s so much fun, a big part of my creative identity and my sound and yet it’s something that so many people have not recognised or given the appropriate credit to - talking about me or other non-male producers.” We spoke to the artist about our favourite songs on the project and what's to come:

We love this project so much! Tell us about the starting point for this EP. What was fuelling your writing and inspiration for this project?

"Invader" is basically just a collection of songs I wrote between 2020 and 2023. The idea for the 'concept' and releasing them under the name "Invader" came later when I realized all these songs dealt with the same feeling that has many shapes and forms but basically always leaves me feeling like I‘m disrupting a functioning system. 

In Denial is great and also heartbreaking. What was your intention behind this song? How does it make you feel now?

The song is me saying "I have and will never tell anyone ever that I have feelings for them". It just feels impossible. But that doesn’t mean I’m not imagining situations and conversations with them. It’s embarrassing but my imagination is quite strong and it‘s very visual so sometimes I catch myself drifting away and thinking about things I would say if situation x happened and I just have full conversations with them in my head about random stuff. And I can confidently say that it hasn‘t changed yet, I‘m still terrified of admitting my feelings for someone.

We also love Stranger In Your Living Room. How did this song come to life?

I had something to say that I couldn‘t or didn’t want to say to someone because it wasn‘t the right time and it also was kind of inappropriate to make the situation about me. But it had to come out, so I wrote this song.

Who did you work with across the Invader EP? What did they bring to the Philine Sonny world?

One of my day ones is Kiko Masbaum. He mixes my tracks and is my emotional support when I get stuck with something. I usually do everything myself from writing to recording to producing, except playing and recording drums. I try to mix the songs as far as I can but at some point I always bring Kiko in. My man on the drums is my band mate and friend Jannis Vernier. We didn‘t know each other for too long when we recorded the drums but he‘s just so passionate about this project which is such a blessing. On “Lovely” two good friends of mine were involved in the beginning. M.Byrd, my favorite guitarist ever, added some beautiful chords and Martin Baumgartner helped with the arrangement and bass.

What have you learnt about yourself through creating this project?

I learned a lot about the way I deal with emotional challenging topics and how big of a deal shame and embarrassment was and still is for me. A lot of the subjects on the EP I’m genuinely embarrassed of but I challenged myself to be as honest as I can. 

What do you hope people listening take from Invader?

The thing is that everything about these songs is for me or the people closest to me. I don’t think about the audience so this question is always hard to answer. But I think if people were less hard on themselves because they realize they‘re not weird for feeling what they feel and feeling it strongly that would make me happy. 

Is there a song you’re most proud of?

In Denial is definitely the song I‘m most proud of. It was so incredibly hard to get it right because there’s so many different parts. At one point all the other songs were done and only In Denial had to be finished. So for like two months I woke up every morning knowing I only had one thing to do and that is finishing this goddamn song. There was a week or two when I hated it so much that I pressed play and immediately started to cry. And I didn‘t only hate the song but also me and I thought I was so bad at this and I‘d never make it and all that scary stuff. What I’m proud of is that I still got up every morning and tried my best until eventually I made it. 

Who is on your playlist at the moment?

I’m so excited for the new Bleachers album, the singles are on repeat. Also Matt Champion, Declan McKenna, Medium Build, Baerd, Flyte, Petey, Lola Young and Fleet Foxes. 

What’s something you’re passionate about right now, aside from music?

I hate to be that girl but I got obsessed with bouldering. We‘re always going with the girls and it’s the best to have that to ourselves. 

What’s next?

Next up is our UK and EU headline tour in May. That‘s what I‘ll have to focus on for now but I‘m also working on new music! 

Listen to Invader HERE.

Above image by Nico Kramer.

@philinesonny