Sofia Carson is on fire. Quite literally.
For those unfamiliar, the 27-year-old actress and singer is one of the newer generation’s reigning Disney queens, having starred in the massively successful Descendants franchise and various Disney Original Movies. She was also in Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, among other TV and film roles. (Check the IMDb – she’s a booked and busy girl.)
But what is a Disney queen if not a multi-hyphenate superstar?
Sofia also launched a solo career in music with Hollywood Records back in 2016 (and performed as part of that Radio Disney tribute to Britney, remember that?), and has slowly positioned herself as a bit of an EDM queen in the process, providing features on tracks with acts like R3HAB, Alan Walker, Galantis and Grey.
That brings us to now: on Friday (March 26), Sofia dropped a brand new single and music video called “Fool’s Gold,” and it packs a pop punch from the songwriting credits alone: legendary duo Stargate co-produced the track with Yakob, along with co-writing from RAYE (check out our recent interview) and Jeff Jones.
Kicking off with a very “Levitating” remix giggle, the strutting number introduces us to a breathy, self-assured beauty on the brink of love, assessing a potential new suitor having already been burnt before.
“I’ve been working overtime learning how to love myself / Used to trust too easy, but I learned that from someone else / Baby, you feel it, I got diamonds in my eyes, he said / Yes, my ego likes you, my intuition pulling back,” she considers, in a very “my body’s saying let’s go, but my heart is saying no” kind of way that Christina Aguilera knows all too well.
“Down in my soul, I need to know / Are you for real or fool’s gold? / You’re pulling me close, but I need to know / Are you for real or fool’s gold?” she debates across elegant strings, funky guitar and a sexy, seductive bass line. There’s a bit of Madonna‘s “Fever” to the beat in the verses, also – which is fitting, considering all music video’s fiery imagery and all.
The highly flammable accompanying visual, directed by the highly in-demand Hannah Lux Davis, supplies serious shades of Sophie Ellis-Bextor chic style, with a hint of Britney’s “3” overhead pole dancing – with added flames, of course. She’s a stunner, as is this song.
“This is the beginning of a story I’m sharing with the world. We meet a girl who’s at the cusp of falling heart-first into a love that feels too good to be true. Before she falls, she can’t seem to quiet that voice in her head that keeps singing ‘are you for real or Fool’s Gold?’” Sofia explains, hinting at more to come this year.
Sofia hasn’t necessarily had any massive mainstream hits just yet. But with any luck, this undeniable bop will catch on – like wildfire, if you will. To quote a fellow Disney queen: burns in the sky, higher and higher….baby, can you play with fire?
