Mexican pop singer Sofish couldn’t escape from Ray Bradbury’s “The Illustrated Man,” a collection of 18 sci-fi short stories where a man’s tattoos come to life and share dystopian tales of the human condition. It was a book her childhood friend recommended before passing away suddenly during her teen years. Months later, her mom would recommend the 1951 sci-fi book and, eight years later, an ex-boyfriend.
“But in my universe, perhaps the stories don’t end in tragedy,” said Sofish, whose real name is Sofía López Jiménez.
Now in her self-published debut album, “Femme Illustrée,” the 25-year-old francophile puts a spin on Bradbury’s idea, embracing her own tattoos — or rather, love’s wounds — not as a warning of future disillusionment but rather as markers of a life well-lived.
Throughout nine tracks, the Guadalajara-born singer-songwriter transports listeners to a celestial club inundated with love, lust and longing. Shifting between Spanish and French, Sofish delivers a heavy pump of French house music and a funky flow of moombahton, a subgenre that combines Dutch house music and reggaeton.
Two months ago, the alt-pop diva made her stateside debut when she performed at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas, drawing crowds with her magnetic aura just as she had done at Mexican festivals Tecate Emblema and Fiestas de Octubre (where she opened up for pop darling Belinda).
“I always try to make vulnerable, profound songs, but also songs that make people dance,” said Sofish. “I want a mosh pit!”
This interview has been shortened and edited for clarity.
Where did the name Sofish come from?
My best friend from middle school gave me the nickname Sofish. I always felt like a bit of a misfit and so did my best friend, Fer. We both absolutely loved reading. She passed away practically overnight due to an aneurysm.
Since we took English class together, she came up with the nickname because my last name is López. She thought it would be funny to play on the Ló-pez name [pez means fish in English]. I chose that name in her honor. I try to ensure that “Sofish” is simply an extension of who Sofía is.
Ray Bradbury’s “The Illustrated Man” is essential to your album. But in his book, the narrator flees from the illustrated man. In your album “Femme Illustrée” are you killing that narrator or silencing it?
In the book, the narrator’s ending remains ambiguous, leaving us wondering whether he fled because he foresaw his own demise. I’ve transformed the narrative to center on a figure that embraces their wounds rather than fleeing from them or instilling fear. I feel like we have two options: we either feel compelled to follow trends or dare to find our own voice. In my case, we weren’t sure if the French lyrics or these dystopian sonic landscapes would work. But the point is, let everyone find their own unique blend, because we all have one.
What do you hope people notice when listening to “Femme Illustrée?”
I began to realize what my own personal pattern and cycle actually were: the initial intensity, the attraction and then the illusion of having found your perfect match. There is that moment where the illusions crumble, where the masks fall away and what follows is disappointment.
Much like in the track “Me Caigo,” which is why it serves as the album’s final track. It’s a moment characterized by both denial and acceptance within the very process of falling.
The track “Flashbacks” represents that yearning for deep connection, a desire that leads one to fall into this very illusion. “Noche” was inspired by the [2016] film “Nocturnal Animals” and touches on that sense of disappointment. If you listen to “Noche,” you’ll notice that it features interludes, short breaks that narrate this process of catharsis. It represents hitting rock bottom, starting over, completely shattering everything but this time from a fresh perspective. “El Mundo Te Doy” is about self-love…. it marks the point where the cycle is broken.
What song was the most difficult to write?
We were working on “Noche” before January 2025. It was such a struggle for us because it was very avant-garde electronic music. When I showed my distributor, they were basically like, “There’s just no electronic music like that in Mexico right now… this is really good, it could compete in Europe,” since that is where the electronic scene is even bigger.
For Mangod [Guillermo Andrés Vega Castellanos], my producer, he kept telling me I need to write lyrics over this because the song has so many musical breaks, but I’d say no, I can’t write anything over it because the music is doing all the work, it’s speaking for itself. If I write over it, it feels like I’m trying to occupy a space that doesn’t belong to me.
You blend Spanish and French in this album, a combination we rarely hear in pop music. How did you learn French and why did you decide to include it in this album?
There was a lot of French inspiration in my life from a very young age. One album that shaped me was the “Amélie” soundtrack by Yann Tierse. I was quite young when it came out but I consider it a great work of sonic art.
Later on, the French vibe found me again. My uncle had a friend who had just arrived from France. I was his only French student. From the very first class he told me: “I’m not going to speak a single word of Spanish to you.” That’s how I learned. It was just like when parents throw you into the deep end of a swimming pool.
I can’t pinpoint how similar French and Mexican culture are, but perhaps it has something to do with many historical ties, the numerous French communities that settled in places like Guadalajara and Mexico City, the Pastry War. African elements are also present in Latin and French culture as well. There’s a reason why we explored moombahton, a popular genre in France. We also drew inspiration from Latin music acts like Major Lazer.
How did you fall in love with French house music?
I think it has a lot to do with how I grew up. The hits that were big at that time were Jamiroquai, Modjo, there was also Stromae with “Alors On Danse.” Something within myself started to resonate with that kind of music. Guadalajara was influenced by Kinky, Sussie 4, Belanova.
Two tracks of this album are interludes where you describe how you are an open book and how your stories, however sad, are also part of who you are as a person and artist. Is there another story that has marked you as an artist?
Something I learned after Fer’s death is that I have two options. Either I stay stuck in this feeling forever or I can let this [grief] consume me. I can make a thousand mistakes and view them as signs that I’m getting closer to the finish line, or I can feel like a failure.
Many people have died in my life. Before Fer, there was another friend who passed away from the same thing. Then came my grandfather who passed away from cancer after a long battle with dementia. From a very young age, I understood what truly matters is the present. Because if you wait around for that big day to arrive, the day you fill the stadium or whatever grand thing you’ve imagined, by then it might already be too late.
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