Coming out of Brooklyn, NY, Sabrina Song – an alt-pop singer and multi instrumentalist – has just released her latest single, “Okay, Okay”. With this new release comes the announcement of her debut full-length album, You Could Stay In One Spot and I’d Love You The Same, out June 7, 2024. Song’s debut LP is long-awaited and has been carefully curated in a way that shows her taking stock of her life as a twenty-something in New York City–reflecting on the love, loss, growth and gratitude–and what may come of it all. 

The latest look into You Could Stay In One Spot and I’d Love You The Same comes from her newest single, “Okay, Okay”, which unfolds like a loving relationship does, and is grounded by a rhythm and melody that matches its soothing lyricism. During the writing of “Okay, Okay”, it became clear to Song how much easier it can be to articulate nuanced emotions through music rather than in real conversation. Song explains, "'Okay, Okay' started as a long list of rambles describing the same thing: How can you fully trust that the person you love feels the same, especially in the beginning? The anxiety of being in love can be so intense because you’re at your most vulnerable, and it’s very easy to self-sabotage out of fear or insecurity. This is a song about reassurance: 'If I could touch the sun / If I could take the pain / I’d do it all for you / Excess with no restraint.” 

Sabrina Song is establishing herself as a promising indie voice following her three EPs and forthcoming LP. Song’s music is composed of a uniquely delicate tone and earnest lyricism. Starting off her musical career as a child taking piano and violin lessons and participating in community theater productions, she is now using her talents to capture the weary heart of young adulthood. Abandoning perfectionism and realism, Song is facing messy coming-of-age feelings to find herself in new and breathing projects.

“Okay, Okay” is out now and You Could Stay In One Spot and I’d Love You The Same will be out June 7, 2024. We had the opportunity to chat with Sabrina Song about her latest announcements, the processes behind them, and what her journey as a musician has looked like. Read all about it below!

THIRTEEN: Hi Sabrina! Thank you for taking the time to chat with us! Tell us a little bit more about you. 

SABRINA SONG: Thanks for having me! I’m an artist, songwriter and producer living in Brooklyn.

THIRTEEN: “Okay, Okay” is listeners’ latest look into your debut album. What’s the story behind this track?

SABRINA SONG: This song is really about how stressful it can be to let yourself be seen by someone in the early stages of falling in love with them. I would hear these horror stories from my friends of people they were dating, and I was really letting that get to me. I wanted to write a song about letting yourself fall in love fully and completely, and working through all of the anxieties and insecurities that come up as you let someone see the best and worst parts of you.

THIRTEEN: In the love and anxiety-induced ramblings that make up “Okay, Okay”, is there one that personally stands out among the rest?

SABRINA SONG: I think I would choose: “I’d do it all for you / Excess with no restraint.” When you’re falling in love with someone, there’s this push and pull of not wanting to reveal too much, fearing that you might feel more strongly. Once you’re able to let yourself live in that feeling, the ability to show someone every part of you becomes beautiful rather than anxiety-inducing. These were the kind of things I was thinking about when I wrote “Okay, Okay.”

THIRTEEN: In what ways do you feel communication flows easier through song and music rather than in an everyday conversation?

SABRINA SONG: I actually thought that I was much more open in everyday conversation than I thought – Since I can be so expressive in my music, I thought that that was an implicit part of my personality, when I don’t think that’s actually the case. My writing often comes from a place of needing to articulate myself so succinctly in a way I can’t do in conversation – I can really create a world around one emotion.

THIRTEEN: You Could Stay In One Spot, and I'd Love You The Same is the title of your debut full-length. How does this title describe the overall LP?

SABRINA SONG: I was at this point in my life (post-grad/early-mid twenties/young adulthood) where everyone and everything had to begun to spread out – some of my best friends and close family had moved out of New York, the frequency with which I was able to see my friends had lessened, the pressure to achieve at a young age felt more and more pressing, etc. This title sums up the gratitude and reassurance that I want to give those people in my life, and myself. Like – Life can be complicated and tedious but I love you and that is such a beautiful thing.

THIRTEEN: It’s mentioned that you appreciate the meticulous process of planning an album, how long did it take you to organize the track list for You Could Stay In One Spot, and I'd Love You The Same? How many different forms did it take before you finalized it?

SABRINA SONG: It took a long time. I actually asked some of my closest friends and collaborators to make their own tracklists just to see how other people’s brains were responding to the album. There were just so many factors I was considering with the pacing of the album, the story from song to song, the overall experience of listening front to back – I’m super happy with the final layout, but I am definitely a perfectionist.

THIRTEEN: How does You Could Stay In One Spot, and I'd Love You The Same differ from the three EPs you’ve released prior? What new emotions and/or experience went into completing a full-length album?

SABRINA SONG: The LP is just really coming from an entirely different place – In my earliest work, you can really hear that I was actively figuring out who I was both musically and as a person. As I’ve developed more of a sense of self, I’ve been able to be more decisive in my music, explore more complex emotions, and work through a lot of feelings that I hadn’t even experienced yet when making my first projects. But each EP is really a time capsule of who I was at the time, and it really transports me to each specific period or moment in my life when I listen.

THIRTEEN: Why did you choose to explore a variety of genres with this LP – raw indie rock (“It Was Not a Beautiful Night”), country-pop (“Yes Man”), pop balladry (“Yellowstone”), and acoustic indie-folk (“Afternoons”) – rather than sticking to one to encompass them all?

SABRINA SONG: I think I just wanted to give myself the freedom to explore outside of what I had done before – I was really able to gather songs over a longer period of time and make the music really intentionally. I worked with a co-producer for the first time (everything I’ve released prior was written and produced alone), wrote some of the songs in London during a residency there, and listened to a ton of music. I just wanted to try new sounds and let the songs tell me what they wanted.

THIRTEEN: Which human experiences do you pull the most song inspiration from?

SABRINA SONG: At this point in time, maybe miscommunication? Or communication in general? I find relationship dynamics really fascinating – romantic, platonic, familial. It sounds kind of general but I think so much of how these relationships play out is dependent on how we communicate, listen to each other, articulate our emotions, and how so much can get lost through miscommunication.

THIRTEEN: As a young child taking piano and violin lessons and participating in theater, did you ever imagine you’d be making a career out of music?

SABRINA SONG: As a child, I definitely would’ve hoped I was singing for a living – I was very much a performer™ and loved singing covers and singing in musicals. The most surprising part of my career to my younger self would definitely be my role as a producer – I didn’t start producing music until college, so it’s been a really amazing experience to learn to produce for myself as well as for my peers.

THIRTEEN: What can we expect to see from you leading up to the release of You Could Stay In One Spot, and I'd Love You The Same?

SABRINA SONG: More songs !! And lots of shows – I’m excited to keep slowly sharing more and more of the project.