This collection of seven new Aloha songs was conceived to be an end-of-the-calender-year pleasant surprise: a care package or a thank you note to fans and anyone who might be curious. But Aloha has a problem doing anything halfway, and the result is a set of Aloha's most gorgeous, ambitious and fully-realized songs. Instead of saying thanks, Aloha is probably saying hello to a bunch of new listeners.

Each song is based on Tony's acoustic guitars, but the world they inhabit is vintage Aloha: richly detailed, moody, intensely rhythmic and flowing with melody.

Aloha's multi-instrumentalist and studio wizard T.J. Lipple mixes in the studio magic while leaving the free-spirited vibe of the recording sessions intact (the EP's closer, for example, is mainly a song written over an improvised piece). Piano, brass, oddly tuned guitars, drums, bass, mallet instruments and vintage keyboards fill out the arrangements.

All in all, Light Works is probably Aloha's most inviting release.