SOPHYA

Darkwave Israel band Sophya is back with their release that's amazing, impressive, and ripe enchanting. After releasing two cds for Clan of Xymox Ronny Moorings label Stitching Xymox, the band signed with Mutantjasz Records owned by legendary Dutch post-punk band members of Mecano in Holland. "Third Wish" have the more common trappings of great songwriting and go straight to its cerebral and sensual core. This cd is splendid brilliant with deeply emotional female and male vocals, smooth and nice laidback basslines, simple crystal clear synthesizers and electronic melodies with guitar layers that will tranquilize you like a drug. The overall feeling of the cd is its essence of beauty paralleling that of the best recording and production quality for 2007. Sophya can be described as the most original Middle Eastern/European trio band around who can take you to another time, place, and give you something to think about. The cd contains the single "More", a video they shot for, which featured on Europe's MTV and reached number 2 on the chart. Other interesting outstanding tracks includes "A New Life Story", "Orchidea", "Faith", "Stare", "To Tears and Flowers", "Sixteen Rings (For A Memory)", and the superb well done job re-make of Joy Division "Transmission" . Sophya shines because of their impressive range of ideas, moods, and the sheer musicality of the finished whole. This Israel/Holland band got it going on!

5/5 Stars - Chain DLK Magazine

Pretty indie sensibilities weave dreamily through much of this album because Sophya clearly have inherent melodic sensibilities, so it’s easy on the ear even when everything is crushed in tight, but the depth means there are layers to peel back with successive listens. What may seem soft and compliant swiftly turns out to be shrewd and evocatively skewed.

Plaintive sounds and an endearingly simplistic approach to the percussive trends, letting the hiss and snap come through, with Sonja’s sensitively stirring vocals produce a genuine atmosphere through ‘More’ which haunts initially, then flits away. Sorrowful pop, ‘Fifty Four’ has beautiful keyboard work and a lightly smeared bass patina, so you sink down into it as vocals swim round you and it creates a little light of its own.

Gently twittering, ‘A Crack In The Sky’ switches to Idan’s crouched vocals and introduces a touch of languor to the subtle mood. ‘A New Life Story’ continues this dowdy, mellow miasma with bizarre, disturbing lyrics from Sonja as a doomed emotional prisoner. A conspiratorial Idan whispers through the opening speculative strands of ‘Orchidea.’ ‘Third Wish – Part I’ is more organic as a rough guitar twiddles, but it’s one of those trick tracks with nothing of note. ‘Faith’ potters enigmatically into view, bleary and softly bleak with muted guitar and hushed backing.

‘Transmission’ is rarely a wise thing for a band to cover, particularly when they give it a jaunty air, although it’s usually bands with shaky vocalists who think the Curtis delivery can mask their own hesitancy. Sonja rather treads water here as the music whisks and clatters and a slightly perky feel is instilled which, while hardly inappropriate, feels wrong.

‘Stare’ sees Idan back on moping territory amid graceful, lowing surroundings and the swooning lullaby of ‘To Tears And Flowers’ finds Sonja very floaty in chilled misty music. The pained twinges of ‘Sixteen Rings (For A Memory)’ traipse in average fashion when I hope some seething electronics would buoy its mood and the more fulsome noodling of ‘Third Wish – Part II’ is attractive but lacking their usual intensity, leaving a remix of ‘To Tears And Flowers’ to restore balance.

A curious album, it has many sleek high points, which are never lofty, and grows better which each listen where many similar bands become dreary, then stale. They don’t go for any outright pace or energetic excitement, preferring instead to let the mood(s) creep up on you, so comparisons to an ethereal Sundays would still be fairly apt.
- live journal