Sophya is a band wit it’s roots firmly in the 4AD tradition. The ethereal darkwave style is often (mostly not justified) compared with Clan of Xymox and the bandmembers of Sophya are befriended with them indeed. The first tow albums of Sophya were released via the German Pandaimonium label, but this third album is released on Mutant Jasz, a label led by people of the well known Dutch 80’s band Mecano. Third Wish sounds more new wave than previous recordings, this is clear when you listen to for instance ‘Fifty Four’. The vocals of Sonja constantly are a nice element in the songs that mostly only show their full beauty after repeated listenings. ‘A Crack in the Sky’ has Idan on vocals and this fine as well. The atmosphere in most of the songs is mellow, dark and delicate. The venom with Sophya is often in the percussion or the content of the lyrics, that are darker than you would suspect at first listening to Sonja singing over the sparse delicate melodies. The atmosphere in the music of Sophya is one that crawls beneath your skin instead of confronting directly. A gem such as ‘Another day’ on their debut cd is not to be found on this album, but a cover of Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’ is. This however doesn’t come across as it should, despite the daring vocals of Sonja. The guitar oriented ‘Third Wish – part 1’, the dreamy ‘To Tears and Flowers’ (which is also remixed by Mecano) and the hypnotizing ‘Stare’ sung by Idan, are perhaps the best achieved songs on this third cd from Sophya, that unfortunately didn’t bring what i was expecting of it. Yet this album is without doubt a quality recording for synth, wave and gothic lovers with sense for ethereal sounds.