Sophia Stel, Signed by A24, on 'The Greatest Album Of All Time' and Imposter Syndrome

Sophia Stel, the 27-year-old Vancouver songwriter and model now signed by A24, has released an album titled The Greatest Album Of All Time — and by her own account, she still suffers from imposter syndrome.

That's the tension at the heart of her story. An artist bold enough to claim the biggest title in music, raised as one of 11 children in an ultra-religious household, who admits the confidence doesn't come naturally. "Girls aren't supposed to be cocky," she told the Guardian, naming the pressure that shadows the album's boastful name.

Stel is now 27, based between Vancouver and London, and running music as a proper business: she opened her business bank account as an artist this past year. A24 — the film and TV studio behind some of the most distinctive recent American cinema — now counts her among its signed artists.

What does a year change?

Plenty, by Stel's account. The first time she came to London, she slept outside in the freezing cold. She had finished a live set last autumn, gone out until 3am with her then crush, and returned to their Airbnb to find that Stel's manager had dead-bolted the door and fallen asleep. No hotel materialised. They kipped on the doorstep.

"We hadn't spent that much time together and I got to see how she was in a stressful situation," Stel says, smiling at the memory. "She kept her vibe up and tried to solve it – I knew I was so in love then."

That crush is now her girlfriend. "It's a lot of change, but maybe because of my Sagittarius moon, I'm fine with it to an extent," she says, only half-joking, speaking at her publicist's office in south London in her uniform of vintage hoodie and Adidas trackies.

Where the confidence comes from — and where it doesn't

Stel grew up in a large, deeply religious family — one of 11 children — before moving into modelling and then songwriting. The imposter syndrome she describes sits oddly against an album title that grabs the biggest possible claim. That gap is the story: an artist who names her record The Greatest Album Of All Time while privately wondering whether she deserves the room she's standing in.

For listeners, the practical question is whether the album backs up its title. The interview suggests Stel knows exactly how high she's set the bar — and that the bravado is partly a working answer to a culture that, as she puts it, doesn't encourage girls to be cocky.

With an A24 deal, a London base and a debut full-length carrying pop's boldest billing, the next year of change looks already booked.