Music
Sorana, like thousands of others, was in the crowd at Coachella’s Sahara stage to see KATSEYE perform during Weekend 1.
She elbowed her way to the front, her light-up hair showing the way. She wanted to hear the K-pop-inspired group perform their new song, “PINKY UP.”
After all, she wrote it.
“Everyone in the crowd was putting their pinkies up and they already knew the lyrics,” Sorana says. “I was telling everyone around me, ‘I wrote this song!’”
She calls it a moment she’ll remember forever. But the moment was years in the making.
The first demo of “PINKY UP” — written by Sorana and her friends and collaborators dwilly and Magsy — was cut in 2024.
Afterward, Sorana’s team pitched the song and it landed at HYBE, the entertainment conglomerate known for producing international K-pop acts like BTS and NewJeans.
The company wanted the song for KATSEYE.
“We were gagged,” Sorana says.
The song went through a series of rewrites, and songwriters Justin Tranter and Skyler Stonestreet were brought in to finalize the lyrics. Sorana says Tranter and Stonestreet added the “end of the world” angle to the song.
Despite having an artistic project of her own, Sorana says the song was always meant to be for someone else.
“When you write and you don’t have the artist in the room, I guess I’m the artist actually,” Sorana says. “I’m thinking what I would write for me, and then I just try and make it as cool as possible.”
For “PINKY UP,” the group of songwriters knew they were writing for K-pop. Sorana says she never knows how a studio session will go. The writing process is spontaneous, she says. Starting with a title helps orient herself.
“‘PINKY UP’ was actually a title that the producer thought of. We got in the session, and he was like, ‘I have a crazy idea. It’s probably stupid.’ And he goes, ‘What if we write a song called “PINKY UP”?’ And I was like, ‘No, that's great. Let's just do it.’”
From there, she focuses on the chorus, or what she calls “the most important section.” Other sections follow — a few years and a round of edits later — and then you have a song.
“Usually you can tell when something’s good and everyone likes it because you get up and dance to it [in the studio] or everyone gets excited,” Sorana says.
Everyone was up. And they were dancing.
Listeners agree: “PINKY UP” secured the No. 1 position on Spotify’s Top Songs, Debut Global list for April 10–12.
Sorana has written for other artists — she’s credited on “Beg for You (feat. Rina Sawayama)” by Charli xcx, “ExtraL (feat. Doechii)” by JENNIE and recently “Bed of Thorns” by TOMORROW X TOGETHER — but her goal was never to be just a songwriter.
“Since I was three, I wanted to be an artist and move to America and be a pop star,” Sorana says.
Born in Romania, Sorana moved to London, where she attended studio sessions every day to learn how to write in English. She wanted to be able to write her own songs.
“I became very prolific at writing, and I actually became good at it, so my songs started getting placed,” Sorana says.
Songwriting for other acts is like a second career. Her priority is still her own project.
The lead single “THESE CORPORATE BITCHES TRYNA KILL ME!!!” from her debut album documents Sorana's experience being signed to a major record label and navigating the music industry.
“There were a lot of chefs in the kitchen, so it was kind of hard to actually make my project as I wanted because everyone had input,” she says. “As soon as I became independent, I started doing the music that I love, which is my electronic project that I'm doing now.”
Her second single, “SKINcare,” out May 1, will give listeners another taste of the album. The album is Sorana’s “favorite music” she’s ever created, she adds.
“It’s like figuring out your mental health while bopping in the club. That’s the vibe of the whole album.”
It’s only a matter of time before you’re bopping to it at Coachella.
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