Eleni Mandell Sets Release
01/16/2009
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(PR) Eleni Mandell will release her new album 'Artificial Fire' February 17, 2009 on Zedtone Records. The 15-song collection builds on Mandell's 2007 breakthrough 'Miracle of Five,' adding a more direct, full-band sound to Mandell's sharp-edged tales of romance, lust and love.
The New Yorker says "Mandell was weaned on artists like Tom Waits and X, and her dark and sexy songs have been compared to those of everyone from Chan Marshall to Patsy Cline. She has a sometimes smoky, sometimes wistful delivery, and, more often than not, her songs take on love from some new perspective." 'Miracle Of Five' ended up on a slew of critics Best of 2007 lists, including Paste, Harp, ABC News and the Los Angeles Times. LA CityBeat described Mandell's music as "a kind of pop-out-of-time, often dark yet somehow comforting, and as unforgettable as a warm winter day." In an "A-" review of 'Miracle Of Five,' Entertainment Weekly said Mandell's lyrics explore "the elusive promise of romance with wry wit and moony wistfulness."
The LA-based Mandell is a leading light in the city's Silver Lake music scene, even performing in a "supergroup" with other scene fixtures Becky Stark (Lavender Diamond) and Inara George (The Bird and the Bee) called The Living Sisters.
All the songs on 'Artificial Fire' were written by Mandell, but arranged, recorded and produced with her longtime band, allowing the group's cohesiveness and musical acumen to shape the tracks while Mandell's articulate lyrics hold centerstage.
The title track leads off the album with an insistent beat and squiggly guitar line backing Mandell's tale of a late-night Montreal rendezvous. "Right Side" is a bouncing ode to a lover, with Mandell gently listing her baby's better attributes over walking bass and bright horn stabs. "It Wasn't The Time (It Was The Color)" is a remembrance of a lost love from a long-ago summer that builds to a crescendo with Jeremy Drake's wall of static guitar solo cutting the reminiscence like the end of a daydream.
'Artificial Fire' features Mandell on vocals and guitar, Drake on guitar, Ryan Feves on bass and Kevin Fitzgerald on drums. Guests include DJ Bonebrake (X, The Knitters), fellow Living Sister Inara George, and Silver Lake music scene regulars Jason Borger, Danny T. Levin and Charlie Wadhams. The album was produced by Mandell, Drake, Feves, Fitzgerald and Dave Trumfio.
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