Frontwoman Sophie Harris on Modern Woman’s upcoming debut LP ‘Johnny’s Dreamworld’

I recently had the chance to talk with Sophie Harris, the frontwoman of London-based art-rock outfit, Modern Woman. Their debut LP, Johnny’s Dreamworld, is set to come out on May 1 2026, under their new record label, One Little Independent Records.

The cover, shot by Sandra Ebert, shows two women with their faces blurred in a field, mid-fight, almost like a frame from a film or a vivid childhood dream you recall years later. Harris says the cover was inspired by the work of Justine Kurland, whose photographs evoke a similar dreamlike energy, and she wanted to recreate the surreal nature of her work in the cover. She tells me she thinks that it reflects the music within the new LP, “I always wanted it to be a little ambiguous and a sort of dark undertone where you don’t necessarily know what’s happening.”  

This statement rings true for the new record, both lyrically and musically. I was privileged enough to get an exclusive listen to Johnny’s Dreamworld before its public release and was drawn in by how loud the guitar sounds and wailing were juxtaposed with Harris’ soft vocals. Even though the lyrics were largely narrative-driven and conjured a nostalgic, dreamlike atmosphere in my mind, it evoked a feeling that was familiar to me, and I’m sure many other listeners, too: female rage. The feeling of having to suppress something, wondering if the people around you can sense what this is, and being unsure yourself of whether you know what’s happening or what you’re feeling.

I definitely like to think of it as a nice teething process

Sophie Harris

Harris laughs as she tells me that lots of people have been noticing the same thing about the record, but it was completely unintentional. She explains how, in the beginning, the band just played some songs to see what would stick. “I definitely like to think of it as a nice teething process as well and I think that we’ve kind of come out of the other end of this record. That does feel like a bit of a, not a journey because I don’t really like that word, but something similar to that.” 

As she shows me her stack of notebooks, it’s unsurprising to me that she is a literature graduate. Whether it be ideas for songs, a poem, or just her stream of consciousness, best believe it will get written down. When she’s coming up with new songs for Modern Woman, she uses these notebooks as a ‘reference toolkit’ to see if there’s anything that will fit into a melody in her head. I ask if any books or movies inspired any of the songs in the LP. Although Harris didn’t explicitly take inspiration from any books or movies, she cites Badlands by Terrence Malick as having the same feeling of “liberation and escape, but with this dark underbelly underneath it”, portrayed in Modern Woman’s songs.  

There are some threads that sort of run through them all if you look quite closely

Sophie Harris

Building up to the LP’s release, Modern Woman has released three music videos, each of them featuring a distinctive visual style. “But there are some threads that sort of run through them all if you look quite closely”, Harris says. From ‘Neptune Girl’, a claymation by Joseph Brett, to ‘Dashboard Mary’ shot fully in 16mm film, the band definitely does justice to the lost art of music videos. She mentions how they’re currently working on a new music video with Ebert; it’s going to be a performance music video because the band thinks it’s important to have a variety of music videos, especially so early on in their career.  

With their first headline tour coming up in a few months, they are excited to perform tracks from their new LP but are also looking forward to revisiting some of their earlier songs, like ‘Dashboard Mary’ and the title track, ‘Johnny’s Dreamworld’.