Sofi Tukker Shares New Single and Video ‘Forgive Me’

Savas Abadsidis March 5, 2022

Sofi Tukker’s WET TENNIS era has begun!.Following last month’s release of the “Original Sin” video and announcement that WET TENNIS, the anticipated follow up to their GRAMMY nominated debut album Treehouse, will be released on April 29th, the group has revealed the cover art and tracklist and is sharing ”Forgive Me”, one of the albums meditations on resilience, radical self-acceptance, and joy. True to the global scope of SOFI TUKKER’s creativity, the single is a collaboration with Turkish producer Mahmut Orhan whose string arrangement on the song draws inspiration from traditional Turkish music.

Sofi Tukker shares, “‘Forgive Me’ is about forgiving yourself for the worst thing you’ve ever done, and forgiving another for the harm they caused you, which is the ultimate surrender. It’s about loving someone so much that you will let them hate you if that’s what they need to do to move on, and hoping that one day, the person will come to forgiveness on their own. We wrote this song with one of our favorite artists in the world, the legendary Mahmut Orhan, and were heavily influenced by Mahmut’s Turkish roots. His orchestration really heightens the drama and raw emotion of the song, and is evocative of longing. Even though it’s dramatic and emotional, it also makes you wanna dance and sway. It has a sexiness that Mahmut often has in his music, that we love.”

The “Forgive Me” video is one of SOFI TUKKER”s most ambitious and visually striking to date. Filmed on location at Evcik Beach and Kilyos Beach in Istanbul, it takes us from the confinement of a white box room to the country’s seaside cliffs in a speeding car. Choreographer Tanem Işık, a sixteen year old phenom from Istanbul, created the modern dance piece in the video where she plays Sophie’s double in a battle that depicts Sophie’s battle with negative impulses that get away from her. A group of modern road warriors in surreal gear, including Tucker and Mahmut, race to her side and cast a circle around her as she reconciles with her darker self. The cast wears emerging Turkish fashion designers from NEW GEN.

The group says of making the video, “We shot the music video together with Mahmut in Istanbul. It was the first international trip we took after Covid and our whole crew was so giddy to be traveling again. We laughed for 4 days straight. We have so many inside jokes from that time…. the camaraderie and fun on set was unparalleled. At the end of the trip, we were sharing a final dinner together with our crew and Mahmut’s crew, going around the table, explaining what the trip meant to us, and everyone shared such moving anecdotes… It was what life is all about. Creating art together with people you admire and love. Turning a difficult experience (what the song is about) into a beautiful experience (the creation of the music and visuals)… that alchemy makes life feel magical. The video is about the journey of losing oneself and then ultimately coming home to oneself. Sophie starts off in what feels like a straight jacket, struggling against herself, and then the troubled part of herself gets let loose. She spends the rest of the video trying to find herself again and comes across Tucker and Mahmut who help her.”

The video’s director Hakan Can adds,”Like any other director, there are themes that I’m most interested in. From the first meeting for Forgive Me I was inspired by the idea of creating a highly personal piece of work, capturing Sofi’s initial intentions in writing the song centering around the theme of forgiveness. I came up with the concept of creating a clone of Sofi, symbolizing a darker side of her. After finding the central narrative, I was looking for ways to incorporate both Tukker and Mahmut Orhan into the story. This resulted in a journey of Sofi and her clone searching for a virtuous tribe led by Mahmut Orhan, and Tukker as a brash racing driver zipping around in dreamlike places.”

The group have announced more dates of their WET TENNIS world tour. SOFI TUKKER will tour across Europe, Western Asia, and Australia along with the previously announced North American dates. Due to high demand, they have added second shows in sold out US markets including Washington DC and Portland. All dates are on sale now and the full tour is detailed below.

WATCH THE “WET TENNIS” TEASER HERE

Artists who command thousands of people to dance and celebrate in unison are ceremonial artists, sparking the fire for everyone to gather around and commune. When in person events became impossible, SOFI TUKKER’s livestreams were a daily ceremony. Sophie and Tucker were able to interact in real time with their community, experimenting and getting feedback on ideas that would eventually become WET TENNIS, and in the process became the 2nd-most livestreamed artist of 2020 according to Pollstar Magazine. This is an album made for their fans but perhaps more significantly, with them. They recorded several songs during the past two years, many with a darker tone that reflected the challenges happening. SOFI TUKKER were very intentional in choosing the songs that made the album, making a conscious decision to have it embody a healing positivity, not a shortsighted positivity that doesn’t recognize the turmoil in the world but one that helps navigate them and effect positive change.

SOFI TUKKER have achieved gold and platinum records in every continent other than Antarctica and their global audience began to coalesce around the streams, eventually creating a community that dubbed itself the Freak Fam. Along with activities related to the group, Freak Fam have helped each other during this difficult time in both emotional and material ways. When many members of Freak Fam had their prom canceled and were missing the big moments in their lives, SOFI TUKKER held a virtual prom and encouraged everyone attending to wear their freakiest wares. More recently, the Freak Fam has taken the form of a bi-weekly SiriusXM radio show, Freak Fam Radio, on Diplo’s Revolution Channel 52 that airs every other Wednesday at 10 PM ET/ 7 PM PT.

ABOUT SOFI TUKKER:

SOFI TUKKER, the genre-defying duo of Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern, is celebrated for their inclusive and global perspective on electronic music as well as their work’s themes of liberation, unity, and self-empowerment. In 2021, SOFI TUKKER achieved their third Billboard Dance Airplay chart #1 for their collaboration with John Summit on “Sun Came Up,” and they also released a tri-lingual collaboration with Amadou and Mariam, “Mon Cheri”. The band is also frequently tapped for remixes by some of the biggest artists in the world including Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry. SOFI TUKKER are also passionate activists who have raised funds and awareness for Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Natural Resources Defense Council and the March for Our Lives. Their commitment to equality and fostering community while recombining the pillars of dance music into exciting new shapes has established them as a singular act.

WET TENNIS TRACKLIST:

1.”Kakee”

2.“Original Sin”

3. “Summer In New York”

4. “Forgive Me” with Mahmut Orhan

5. “Wet Tennis”

6. “Interlude”

7. “Sun Came Up” with John Summit

8. “Larry Bird” featuring Tuck’s Dad

9. “Hold” with BOII

10.“Mon Cheri” with Amadou & Mariam

11. “Freak”