Meet the Leeds pianist behind ‘haunting’ Adolescence song

A musician from Leeds said she felt “incredibly lucky” to have been part of Netflix hit show Adolescence.

The four-part series, which centres around a 13-year-old boy who is accused of murdering a schoolmate, has received widespread praise for shining a light on the corrosive impact of social media and misogynist influencers on some teenagers.

Sophie Lim accompanies a children’s choir on the piano for a cover of Sting’s song Fragile during a poignant scene in the second episode.

Ms Lim, who works as a student information adviser at the University of Leeds, said: “They wanted it to be really moving, to evoke the heavy emotion of the scene.”

Ms Lim said she had no idea what the show was about when she was initially contacted by one of its composers, David Ridley.

“I was only sent the music a week before, together with a bit more information about the storyline,” she said.

“None of the children were musically trained, so they had to learn to sing from scratch and learn the song by heart.”

The song, which is about the meaninglessness of violence, plays in the background as the boy’s father lays flowers at the crime scene.

“I felt it perfectly captured the fragility of the situation; that it’s incredibly difficult to be a child in this world right now,” said Ms Lim.

“I could see why they wanted it to be a stripped-back and more haunting version of the original.”

While an emotionally charged experience, she said she really enjoyed the process.

“I felt incredibly lucky they were prepared to take a chance on me and believed in me,” she said.

“It was an awesome experience.”

Despite her involvement in the series, Ms Lim had to wait like everyone else until it officially aired last month.

“I have to confess it was a slightly weird experience hearing the song I’d recorded, but I think it perfectly captured the conflict between the themes of innocence and the harsh realities explored in the show,” she said.

“I’m really happy with how it all came across.”