Inspired #460 - Lora Mouna
Syrian-American indie-rock singer, songwriter and artist Lora Mouna delights us further with the release of her debut EP 'phases of becoming'. For fans of The Last Dinner Party and Wolf Alice.
Lora Mouna’s new EP is a vivid portrait of transformation - an intimate time capsule capturing the many versions of self that emerge in the wake of loss. Written between Brooklyn and the memory-soaked stillness of her childhood home in North Carolina, the record explores what it means to dissolve, distort, and rebuild in real time.
Known for her diary-like confessional songwriting style and mesmerizing vocals, Lora uses music as a vessel to capture moments of vulnerability within herself and her relationships. Her music reflects on her shadow work and healing, flowing between indie-rock, folk, and middle eastern sounds - intertwining the different sonic experiences from her culture and inspirations.
She took a moment to talk to us about the inspirations behind her music.
Who are your top three musical inspirations and why?
My top three musical inspirations change depending on where I am in life and what I’m listening to in that moment, but right now they’re Sarah Kinsley, Indigo de Souza, and Dora Jar. Each of them have such an innate ability of evoking emotion into sound in ways I could have never expected. Sarah Kinsley’s lyrics feel like pure poetry, and she’s able to capture feelings in ways I could have never thought to express verbally. The rawness in Indigo de Souza’s voice stuns me - she unapologetically writes about life and death in a way that I haven’t heard before and that deeply resonates with me. Dora Jar’s writing is playful yet deep, and it reminds me so much of Fiona Apple. Listening to her music just makes me want to experiment and play with mine more.
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
Everything, Everywhere All at Once is a film that changed me forever. I saw that film in theatres without knowing a thing about it beforehand, and I remember it genuinely altering my brain chemistry and the way I think about the continuum of life. The way it captures the abstract, the infinite, and multiple dimensions of existence is something I have not stopped thinking about, and I hope to capture that abstraction in my art from time to time.
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
Damascus, Syria is the most inspiring city I've been to. Not only is it one of the oldest cities in the world, rich and vibrant with history, culture, and art, but what inspires me the most is the people. They are the most generous people I have ever encountered. The first time I visited was when I was 11 years old, and I have this vivid memory of my family driving down the street and smelling incredible, hot, fresh pita bread coming from a man who was delivering stacks of it. We asked where he was headed so we could buy one, and instead, he offered us all of the pita bread he had for free simply because we wanted some. That’s the generosity and the heart of the people there, and it is something that I will carry with me forever.
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
My mother is the most inspiring person to me. She’s a musician, a pharmacist, and an architect, and has worked full time in all of those fields at one point of her life (all while raising two kids with my dad and immigrating to another country). She has shown me time and time again how you can do absolutely anything that you set your mind to, and she was also my first introduction to music. I wrote my first songs with her when I was seven years old, and she was my vocal coach until I began formal lessons at seventeen. Whenever I feel stuck writing a song, she’ll tell me, “The song is already there, you just have to listen.” It’s what I keep in mind each time I sit down to write a song - I listen first, then I write what I hear.
What were your inspirations when writing your new EP?
My inspirations for this EP emerged from the grief and growth I experienced throughout the last 3 years. After an immense period of loss, my life felt frozen. I lost several loved ones within a year and a half, moved to a new city, navigated new relationships while others that I thought would last forever fell away. Throughout those changes, I felt so stuck, like my life wasn’t moving forward and that I was going to stay there forever. I had to remind myself that even in those moments, I was still becoming a version of myself that I’ll never be again, and that was worth nurturing and loving too. Life is constantly flowing, fluctuating, and changing, which has both brought me comfort and fear. It’s scary to think about change when you want time to freeze, but it’s also comforting to know that when you’re going through the hardest time of your life, time will inevitably shift, move, and carry you forward.
How would you like to inspire people?
I want to create sound and music that people can immerse themselves into and feel seen by. A lot of when I wrote this EP, I felt that nobody could see me or understand me through the mental health challenges I was facing. Some of my songs sound like they're speaking to others when I say “you”, but most of the time I’m talking to myself about myself. It has been a struggle to feel comfortable in my own skin and mind, and I hope my music serves as a release, escape, or confrontation of those feelings for others in their own experiences.
I also want to inspire people in the fact that my project is completely independent so far - everything I’ve created and built has come from the passion to do so, and from the love and support of my community. I hope to encourage other small, independent artists to do the same and to build a network where we can share resources and uplift one another.
