Born 35 years ago in New York as Sonia Kreitzer, Doe Paoro, now living in Los Angeles, is active as a singer-songwriter. Her debut album Slow to Love was released in 2012. From a longer stay in Tibet, she has her enthusiasm for the Tibetan local choir singing, which she has made home back home again and again subject of her musical activities. Her new album, recorded in a London studio, her third album, Soft Power, was produced by Grammy award winner Jimmy Hogarth, who was, among others, worked for Amy Winehouse and Adele. Source of inspiration for the soft power has been, according to Doe Paoro, Carole King. In which way the singer has put this inspiration into action, shall be explored in the following.

Let's start with "Over" settled in the pop world of the fifties and early sixties with the difference that the voice of the singer sounds cheekier and the accompanists sound cooler than it was the case at that time. "Cage of Habits" catapults the listener with inflated gospel harmonies, contagious rhythms and a group of female background voices well into the eighties. Since the song does not find a real completion, it is finally faded out gently. Like the first song, the third one, "Guilty", has a decent, albeit a bit abrupt end, after taking the listener emotionally charged on the timeline to today. This song goes beyond soft power to more powerful realms, where the expressive voice of Doe Paoro feels as the fish in water. In "Loose Plans" Doe Paoro is in full soulful mood with sparse piano accompaniment and gently mixed background choir. A pure soul album by this singer can be easily imagined after this performance. It continues with "Cruelty of Nature" in an appropriate, a little bit depressive soul and gospel mood, underlined by the saxophone. "Second Door" turns out to be a heart-pounding song in the sluggish time scale. Here Doe Paoro demonstrates her impressive creative power, in which she sings easily in a row with Amy Winehouse and Adele. With "Fading into Black" Doe Paoro delivers a contemporary pop song with a successful mix of quiet and dynamically far-stretching passages. In "The Projector" Doe Paoro celebrates an attractive rock festival for guitar, brass and background vocals. Rebecca Ferguson apparently stands for "Together Apart". Which versatile songbird Doe Paoro is, she proves at the latest with "novel". This is really big pop music with abstract fifty’s flair, accompanying musicians included. This also holds for the strong forward-pushing "Walk Through the Fire". Coming to the album’s end "The Vine", in the form of a beautiful soulful song, spreads real soft power.

Nicht nur ihren Fans, sondern allen, die Freude an kompetent präsentiertem Pop mit Tiefgang haben sei Doe Paoros Album Soft Power stark empfohlen. Dieses Album ist so gut gemacht, dass mit ihm selbst Pop-Verächter Zugang zu diesem Genre finden können.

Doe Paoro's album Soft Power is highly recommended not only for her fans, but for anyone who enjoys playing proficient pop with depth. This album is so well done that even pop-despisers can find access to this genre.