Soccer Mommy

Decades after Janis Ian “learned the truth at seventeen,” sad girl music has become a genre-spanning library on Spotify. Log on to find “sad girl workout,” “sad girl country,” and of course, ‘tis the season, “sad girl autumn,” indie anthems for when twilight falls early over the dead leaves and the season depression wraps you up in your unwashed duvet. These playlists, often accompanied by images of sweater ‘n’ schoolgirl uniform-clad Rory of “Gilmore Girls” or Irish heartthrob Paul Mescal in the S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder) inducing “Normal People,” are where Soccer Mommy lives. “I’m so tired of faking, ‘cause I’m chained to my bed when they’re gone, watching TV alone ‘til my body starts aching,” sings 25-year-old Sophie Allison on her 2020 breakout track “circle the drain.” A former NYU student, Allison was raised in Nashville, Tenn., the music mecca most Southern up-and-comers dream of moving to and being discovered. Instead, she found her start in Yankee territory, playing gigs in Brooklyn’s up-and-coming (but now probably “arrived”) Bushwick neighborhood.

Soccer Mommy will performed at MASS MoCA’s Hunter Center in North Adams, Mass., on Nov. 5 at 8 p.m.