A Philly rock band with suburban roots put on a free show in celebration of a new single they launched over the weekend at a local record store.
Positively Records, located near five points in Levittown, played host to the band Soraia for the third time on Saturday to celebrate the launch of their new single, “Quicksand.”
Advertisements
Soraia is fronted by ZouZou Mansour, a Fairless Hills native who grew up frequenting Positively Records.
As a child, Mansour’s parents would play music like The Beatles. When that music didn’t quite stick, all it took was a quick trip to the Levittown music store to get talking with Mitch Barth, the owner, to find something she could really dig into. PJ Harvery, David Bowie and other musicians fit the bill for Mansour.
Local Record Stores Riding Wave Of Vinyl
“It was nice to have a local record store that wasn’t a huge change,” Mansour said, thinking back to the amount of time she spent talking with Barth about music.
Advertisements
After the show ended, Mansour made sure to stop and chat, take pictures with and sign posters for fans and friends at the show. Even as fans continued to come up with requests and to just chat, Mansour was happy to personally connect with the fans coming to see her and the rest of the band.
In high school, Mansour learned how to play the drums and played in an all-girl band. From high school forward, Mansour knew that she wanted to be a touring artist as soon as she picked up music, but really wanted to be a singer.
Advertisements
“I always thought that you were just born a singer,” Mansour said, referring to her voice not matching the voices of other girl singers she knew and recognized. It took some time, but Mansour is now the singer and leader of Soraia, a soon to be internationally touring band.
Leading up the launch of their fourth album, Dead Reckoning, Soraia is touring throughout the region. The group plans to go to Europe in October and November and has been receiving airplay on Little Steven’s Underground Garage on SiriusXM.
Coming back to play at Positively Records is almost like a weight off of Mansour’s shoulders. The venue brings with it a comfortable familiarity, she said.
Advertisements
“I feel more free here,” Mansour said. “It’s free and easy and it’s where I fell in love with music.”
