In a dystopian culture where cynicism has become the norm, we’re all itching for our hope-laced dopamine fix anywhere we can get it. Enter electronic music duo Sofi Tukker. Through their excitable, empowering, and unapologetically horny sound, Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern have amassed over three billion streams, Platinum and Gold records on five continents, and hundreds of syncs for film, TV, and commercials—scratching all of our dopamine itches in the most optimistic, engaging, and fun way imaginable.

At their core, the duo truly does have fun. It bleeds through in their anthemic, joyous sound, mixing higher-level musical concepts from around the world with upbeat rhythms, creating a dynamic dance-pop utopia that invites all to join and all to shake their asses. What separates Sofi Tukker from their contemporaries is that their sound never commands you to be happy. Instead, it gives the impression that the two are throwing a raucous party regardless, but you’re more than welcome to join.

Sofi Tukker’s new album, BREAD (“Be Really Energetic and Dance”), is a dazzling love letter to Brazil’s distinct dance culture and a liberating expression of sexuality, pushing the duo’s already expressive sound to its funniest, most exciting form. BREAD was partly inspired by Sophie’s global upbringing. Born in Germany, she moved frequently with her parents and attended international schools where she picked up a passion for Brazilian music. “Something about it just caught me,” she says. “I was immediately in love with bossa nova because of the delicate singing style, almost whispering into the microphone.” Raised without a clear national identity, Sophie took her love for Brazilian music everywhere.

Before Sophie and Tucker were at the center of a worldwide party, the two were students at Brown. While the duo now evinces the best friends or close siblings dynamic, Tucker explains, “We actually didn’t know each other most of our time at Brown. I was there playing basketball. I was planning on playing pro.” While Tucker was putting up double-doubles (his athletic background infuses Sofi Tukker’s energetic approach, especially in the competitive scoring aspect of their WET TENNIS album tour), Sophie was taking Portuguese language courses before studying abroad in Rio for a semester, one that she didn’t want to end. “It was tough for me to leave Rio. I thought I would never leave because I felt so at home in Brazil. It felt like the place I’m supposed to be.”

At one point, Tucker contracted mono and was forced to leave school and go home, where he taught himself to produce and “just fell in love with it.” When both were eventually back at Brown, Sophie performed at a student-run art gallery. Tucker recalls, “I went early and I saw a girl playing bossa nova music, singing all in Brazilian Portuguese with a jazz trio. I was like, ‘I’ve never heard anything like this,’ and I thought it would be really cool if it was mixed with the dance music that I was making.”

Sophie remembers, “I was making music in Portuguese to tend to my longing for that place. I was expecting to move back and make music there. When I met Tucker, he was like, ‘Can you just move to New York and form a band with me? And I promise that one day we’ll return to Brazil.’ The crazy thing is, that that actually happened with this album. We spent a lot of time in Brazil making this music, and it was very fulfilling and satisfying to see that come full circle.”

Looking back, it’s clear that Tucker was onto something that night, as the core of Sofi Tukker’s sound retains that combination of bossa nova songwriting and college-party-ready dance production. While their music started as a combination of two different musical backgrounds, Tucker explains that their dynamic in the studio has “always been pretty fluid. We’ve always kind of done everything. Sophie’s definitely more of a lyricist and I’m more of a beatmaker, but we’ll always give each other input.” Over the years, Tucker says their process has grown to include more people without losing the duo’s core identity: “We started just the two, but we made a lot of friends collaborating with people. That can bring a lot to the table, but it’s also important that we really stick to our vision of what we feel is Sofi Tukker, and what we believe feels like us.”

Since bursting onto the scene in 2015 with their breakout hit “Drinkee,” the two have grown accustomed to the transient lifestyle of constant touring. They worked on the tracks for BREAD over the last few years traveling for tour, recalling memorable sessions in Florida, Las Vegas, New York, Canada, and Los Angeles, to name a few. However, Tucker explains that a performance at Carnival in Rio was the real impetus for them to anchor down in Brazil to complete the album. “We were so inspired, and  we were already working on some of the songs for this album. And that definitely was a huge catalyst.”

The two hit pause on their busy travel schedule to spend more than two months finishing the album in Rio and São Paulo, and the hiatus clearly paid off. BREAD sees Sofi Tukker expand on their existing Brazilian influences with dramatic bossa nova melodies, hip-shaking funk carioca beats, and Portuguese wordplay. Sofi Tukker turned to Brazilian poet Chacal, an old college friend and longtime collaborator, to help aid the album’s songwriting. Chacal, who collaborated on the duo’s breakout hit, “Drinkee,” wrote two original poems for the album: “Jacaré” and “Cafuné.” Sophie muses that the meaning of Cafuné “doesn’t translate well. But that’s the beauty of it; it’s one of those words that only Portuguese has. But it means running your hands gingerly through someone’s hair.”

On the production end, the duo worked with Brazilian producer Márcio Arantes, spending a month in São Paulo alongside him to add a local Funk flavor to the album on tracks like “Woof,” “Hey Homie,” and “Goddess in Disguise.” Tucker says, “Getting to learn from Márcio and how he produces and how he makes music—especially Brazilian funk—was really cool.”

Sophie describes how Arantes added a unique layer to “Hey Homie” by interpolating the original track with a Portuguese version. “We had this song, and then [Arantes] made a song and made it sound like a sample. It’s at the end of ‘Hey Homie,’ it’s basically the same lyrics but in Portuguese and with a completely different melody, and it’s made to sound like a sample throughout the song.” Tucker says the extra love they showed “Hey Homie” in the studio exemplifies the differences between BREAD and former projects. “We really went in way extra on these songs. In the past, I think we would have been done with these songs at 70-80%, but on this, we just kept pushing to try to make them the best possible thing we could, and we feel really good about it.”

It’s clear the two value working with friends over all else. [“These] are all artists that we love,” Tucker says. He explains how Nigerian singer Kah-Lo, who features on “Woof,” has been a close friend since they met at the start of the Grammys at the beginning of their career: “We went through that whole crazy experience together and have stayed really good friends.” On working with DJ/rapper Channel Tres on “Cafuné,” Tucker says, “There aren’t that many dance artists that really perform and not just DJ—perform the music, sing the music, dance and have choreography—so we’re cut from the same cloth in that way. We bonded over loving each other’s shows and getting to know each other. He’s just the coolest dude on the planet.”

The two express immense gratitude for their dedicated fan base, the affectionately termed “Freak Fam.” “We feel fortunate that we can call our fans really good people,” Sophie shares. “You know, you can’t choose your family; you can’t choose who gravitates towards music. But, genuinely, I would choose the people who do gravitate towards our music.” Tucker adds, “Venue workers and security guards always tell us after the show, ‘That was the nicest crowd.’ They go crazy, but they’re polite.”

The Freak Fam is perhaps appropriately deemed family— the community grew close during the COVID pandemic when Sofi Tukker would DJ a live virtual set every day for around 300 days: “It became this amazing community that grew and grew when nothing else was going on. It became almost a mental health thing for so many people, including ourselves. We really came together at that time, and I think it feels so close because of that,” they agree.
Sofi Tukker cares deeply about health and numerous other social causes. Since their astronomical rise to popularity, the duo has worked with organizations among the likes of Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Recently, the two have dedicated themselves to the Un-Endangered Forest Project by donating $1 from every ticket sold and 1% of the revenue from their Brazilian beverage company, Novo Fogo. “The goal,” Sophie explains, is to “plant endangered species of trees in the Atlantic Forest, and to make sure that these trees don’t go extinct.”

 Why does Sofi Tukker’s style of upbeat pop-dance music feel so convincing and authentic? Sophie reasons that it’s because the music “definitely comes from a real place.We’re not trying to force ourselves to be optimistic. I think working with people that we love and admire is what makes us so optimistic, and what inspires us to keep going.” Tucker adds,"When you're around friends and people you’re comfortable with, you trust them [enough] to look stupid in front of [them] too. It helps to feel loose and comfortable and have a good time. We really do enjoy the process of making music and performing it.”

Currently headlining their most extensive North American tour to date, (“They’ve all been standout shows. It’s been pretty amazing,” Tucker says) and with shows supporting J Balvin in Australia and Kygo in Europe later this year, Sofi Tukker is an artist to see if you need a safe, loving place to let your freak flag loose and to break some bread. Balancing impressive musicianship with a grounded personality and deep connection with their fans, Sofi Tukker demonstrates how far authenticity, love, and fun can take an artist. As Tucker puts it, “We don’t want to take ourselves too seriously, and we want to make you smile, but we also want to make a really good song.” On what she hopes their music makes people feel, Sophie concludes, “I think liberated is a pretty good word. Liberated to free their ass.”

Photographed by Hannah Sider

Styled by Anissa Silvas & Fausti 

Written by Oliver Heffron

Hair/Makeup: Amanda Wilson at Opus Beauty

Flaunt Film: Kelley Grade

Flaunt Film Editor: Abraham Howard

Stylist Assistants: Amanda Spiegel, Sophia Faye Yanez, and Norman Ely. 

Location: The Arlo Williamsburg.

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