Reviews

Sora is aiming to release a full length album in 2009 but until then listeners will have to make do with her classy and extremely beautiful EP - Light, which features four truly amazing songs. Light comprises of all Sora’s own material. It moves away from a more traditional Celtic sound opting to fuse folk and Celtic music with classical music to create a mysterious and haunting sound...Sora has unsurprisingly been compared to the likes of Loreena McKennitt and Mary Black. She does quote Loreena McKennitt as being one of her biggest musical influences along with the likes of Jewel, Sarah McLachlan and Tori Amos. Like many artists around today Sora hates having her music pigeon holed into one specific category. The natural world is often used as Sora’s canvas when creating new songs. She is like a painter only she uses words instead of paint...This four song EP gives listeners a glimpse into the world of Sora. It shows off brilliantly her musical talents and her gift for creating atmospheric pieces that reel the listener in. Sora’s voice is like a gift from the gods. Overall a highly rated and tremendous piece of work!

Apr 03, 2009
Sara Hunt

Heathen Harvest
Sora`s ballads are filled with sincerity and pristine beauty. Her combination of folk and neoclassical is stunning and defies easy pigeonholing. It`s simply glorious music. I immediately had to order Winds Of Change after hearing Light, and I`m looking forward to Sora`s second full length. You should go to Sora`s Myspace where this complete EP can be listened. Sadly it is myspace quality. The sound on CD is so much better and well worth your money. This is one of the best EP`s I`ve heard. Not just this year, but ever.

Sep 01, 2008
ChAwech

Thank-you for your songs, which have been part of the magic that I put into the chinks in the wall to keep the warmth and the light inside

Jun 01, 2008
Peg Kerr, Writer

Calgary Songwriter
The first notes of Sora`s four-song CD `Light` reminded me immediately of Loreena McKennitt. Almost as immediately, I came to appreciate that Sora is her own performer and has her own sound. Yes there is `that` sound, similar to McKennitt, Enya, Sarah Brightman and others who mine the rich fields of Celtic music and music inspired by Celtic tradition. However, the clean production - provided by Douglas Romanow, who also produced the likes of Ann Vriend - and Sora`s clear, classically trained, vibrato rich, style voice make for a set of songs that stand entirely on their own.

Jun 01, 2008
ND Speers

Quotes

This is one of the best EP`s I`ve heard. Not just this year, but ever. - ChAwech(Heathen Harvest)

I`m deeply moved my your lyrics and music. They are rich and complex, subtle and powerful. I just listened to all of your songs while reading the lyrics. They have a purity that I don`t often hear in contemporary music. Perhaps a better word to describe them would be a word that Chaucer used, `Gentilesse.` It’s a middle English word and is no longer in the lexicon. It means beauty and nobility of spirit. - David Conrad

You have an extremely lovely and mesmerizing voice and amazing vocal talent -- which, is hard to find...most vocals have to be enhanced with multiple backup tracks and masked with general noise - Craig Hardegree

This piece blends Celtic music with classical quite effortlessly. It has a fresh inspiring sound that makes the listener stop dead in their tracks. Sora sings about winter, snow and ragging storms leading to spring ‘so lay your seed, release your pain, spring comes again’. Sora is a great story teller using music to fuse her words together. She uses her words and music to let people know what it means to be human. This opening piece is haunting and has a ghost like quality. In seconds the listener is transported to a mysterious magical place where they can watch secretly as the story unfolds from afar. Personally for me the best song on the EP, this is a powerful piece that evokes all sorts of feelings and emotions. The lyrics of this song represent immense grief. Juniper is the metaphor for both despair and hope. - Sara Hunt

Twilight, the second piece on the EP, slips into a more traditional feel. Blissful music and Sora’s glorious voice make this an intoxicating piece. Sora’s vocals have an angelic quality. Her voice betrays an epic beauty just waiting to be discovered. I could listen to Sora all day every day – her voice fills the listener with passion, love and faith in life. It is easy to tell from the lyrics of this song that it is about love. You can feel the passion seeping through every line. Sora states that love is more than passion. Love is in fact a willingness to find light and beauty in a person even in the darkest of times. The title of this song is so fitting as twilight is often spoke about in magical terms as the magical time between night and day. - Sara Hunt

The Birch’s Lament contains vivid lyrics that really bring the piece to life. Sora uses extremely descriptive lyrics. Her vocals are clear and crisp. Nature plays the lead role in the lyrics of this song. - Sara Hunt

The final song on this evocative EP is also the title song – Light. This is a gentle number yet still very infectious on the listener’s ear. Although slightly less dramatic than the other songs on the EP this is still a wonderful piece. The message contained in the lyrics is quite profound. This is a song about how even though a soul might be damaged, if you look hard enough you can still see the light. The outside of a person can be battered and bruised but inside there will still be a glimmer of light, even hope perhaps. - Sara Hunt