Eleni Mandell – Dark Lights Up (24.07)

Tracklist:

01 – I’m Old Fashioned
02 – What Love Can Do
03 – Someone to Love Like You
04 – Cold Snap
05 – China Garden Buffet
06 – Town Called Heartache
07 – Old Lady
08 – Magic Pair of Shoes
09 – If You Wanna Get Kissed
10 – Baby, Don’t Call
11 – Butter Blonde and Chocolate Brown
12 – Do It Again

Das sagt der RS:

„Eleni Mandell veröffentlicht am 24. Juli ihre neue, inzwischen 10. Platte „Dark Lights Up“. Die kalifornische Singer-Songwriterin widmet sich darin einmal mehr der flirrenden Mischung aus Folk, Jazz und Standards, ohne dass es auch nur eine Sekunde angestrengt klingen würde. Zu den oftmals intimen Songskizzen gesellt sich manchmal ein geradezu ansteckender Humor.“

…und das Yep Roc:

„It all started with a visit to the Country Music Hall of Fame, where an innocent afternoon wandering the exhibits and learning about her musical heroes, like Hank Williams, George Jones, Buck Owens, and Tammy Wynette, led acclaimed LA singer and songwriter Eleni Mandell on an unexpected journey of profound musical and personal self-discovery culminating in ‚Dark Lights Up,‘ her tenth and most captivating album yet. „It was a profound experience for me,“ says Mandell. „Seeing all their lyrics and guitars on display made me reflect on just how deeply I’d been influenced by classic country.“

Co-producing the new album herself with longtime friend and collaborator Sheldon Gomberg in his Silver Lake studio, Mandell distilled her songs down to their purest cores, assembling all of the musicians together in a single room with only acoustic instruments to cut the record live in just four days. The result is an utterly charming, beguiling album, drawing on elements of folk, jazz, and standards with an infectious charisma, as Mandell’s voice melts over the stripped-down arrangements to create a lush, sensuous intimacy.“