Sora – Ghostlines (Album – Sora Music)
Genre/Influences: Ethereal, Folk)
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: American female artist Sora is back on track unleashing her fourth full length album. This multi-instrumentalist didn’t release Sora albums on a regular basis, “Ghostlines” being the first new full length in eight years.
Content: The sound universe of Sora is blessed by elegance. The dreamy ballads joined by the Ethereal voice of the artist create an invitation to evasion. The multiple acoustic instruments are quite noticeable elements in the artistic beauty of this album featuring ten songs.
+ + + : “Ghostlines” is an artistic voyage composed by multiple instruments –but mainly by one musician. Sora plays chime, harp, keyboard and violin while her voice is probably the main instrument of the composition process. She got some help from musician and producer Vanessa Cardui who played banjo, glockenspiel, lute, percussions and did some backing vocals. A few more guests contributed by playing cello, electric guitar and drums. It all together resulted in an authentic production and multiple beautiful songs. I like the melancholia emerging from some violin parts and of course cello. “Clay” is the absolute sonic diamond from the album, which also features a few mystic passages.
– – – : I just regret there are no more songs reaching the same artistic level as “Clay”… but in the end it all is a question of taste.
Conclusion: Sora brings different, related music genres together creating a sophisticated and subtle sonic osmosis between Ethereal and Folk.
Best songs: “Clay”, “Ghostlines”, “Selkie”.
Rate: 7½.
Artist: www.soramusic.ca / www.facebook.com/Sorasinger
About Sora
Sora is the project of singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrea Hunt, based in Calgary, Alberta. Her Bandcamp page describes the music as “World Celtic”; the songs are registered with SOCAN, the Canadian rights society. The review above calls her an American artist, but her own pages locate the project in Canada.
Her Bandcamp catalogue starts with “Heartwood”, released on 9 May 2009 and produced, recorded and mixed by Douglas Romanow in Toronto. “Scorpion Moon” followed on 13 January 2013, again produced by Romanow, this time at Noble Street Studios in Toronto.
“Ghostlines” was released on 15 May 2021 on CD and as a download. Vanessa Cardui produced the album and Richard Harrow mixed and mastered it. Sora sings and plays chime, harp, keyboard and violin; Cardui adds backing vocals, banjo, glockenspiel, lute, recorder and percussion, with Dorothy Bishop on cello, Aaron Young on electric guitar and Brent Van Dusen on drums. The ten tracks are “Ghostlines”, “Paris”, “Secrets”, “Immortal”, “Clay”, “Frozen”, “Selkie”, “Helen”, “Away” and “Goodbye Lullaby”. It is the release reviewed here and the most recent album on her Bandcamp page.
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I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
