It might look like everyone around you has life figured out, but if you look beyond the polished surface for a little longer, things quickly become less convincing. That feeling sits at the heart of Playground, the new single that London-based artist Sonia Elisheva releases today. Catchy and slightly cathartic, the track pushes her sound further into electro-leaning alt-pop.
Behind Playground is a realisation that came from Elisheva’s own experience of reaching places she had once dreamed of, only to discover that the people already there didn’t necessarily have any more answers than she did. “Some people are just better at pretending than others,” she explains. It is a feeling many of us know well, and one that the song turns into an invitation to let go of the pressure to have everything figured out and stop constantly looking elsewhere for validation.
As a solo release in 2026, Playground also signals a shift for an artist whose music has continued to evolve since she started releasing it in 2021. Her background in jazz and electro swing remains part of the picture, but this new release leans more openly towards alt-pop and electronics. It comes after years of playing across the UK and Europe, including sold-out London jazz venues and shows with her seven-piece band.
That freedom to move between different worlds has long been part of Elisheva’s music, and Playground feels like another extension of it. Her Eastern European heritage meets a very London sense of humour, while the music itself refuses to settle too comfortably into one place. In her own words, it is “Jazz Bar meets London nightbus banter after a sweaty nightclub.” Playground, out today, brings those elements together.
