Elles Bailey’s star rises on an ever increasing arc. The new album, due next week, should achieve even greater success than ‘Beneath The Neon Glow’ and delivers on song after song.
She has changed the model on this one. For the last two albums Bailey recorded with her touring band and her first two were recorded mainly in Nashville and Muscle Shoals. This time she has worked with Luke Potashnick at his Wool Hall studio and used musicians that Potashnick brought in for the sessions.
There is a sense here of real confidence, both in Bailey’s singing and in the songs themselves – all bar one written by Elles alone or with a number of collaborators. Her voice, that smoky and soulful engine we have seen developing in depth and strength over the last ten years, is immediately recognizable, but there is a greater range and certainty in her presentation that makes the music work in a whole range of different styles. Some of the songs here have a rootsy quality while others almost sit in a gospel setting. There are horns, strings and good use of backing vocals, the whole production making the best of all of the songs here. There are at least a few that will be brilliant live numbers.
‘Growing Roots’ is a funky number, the kind of Sly Stone or Isely Brothers soulful funk. Super keys from Richard Causon and a really smoky vocal. The backing vocals really bring the soul out.
Elles does a version here of Matt Long’s ‘Better Days’. Keeping to the soulful groove, it is a brilliant tribute to the late young guitarist.
‘Blessed’ is a beautiful song. Elegant strings and sparse production bring a tight focus on the vocals. Born from a writing session with her longtime collaborator Ash Tucker and finished with producer Luke Potashnick, it has a quiet intensity that almost brings Nick Drake to mind. My favourite on the album and one that is perfect for live performance.
Every track has its own identity, and I found myself focusing on a different song every time I played the album. For me, the strength of the album is the variety of songs and Elles’ confident and open performance, coupled with superb production.
I’ve had the album for a while and every time I have listened to it, I find something new in either the songs or in Elles’ singing. I listen to a lot of albums in the course of a year and there a very few that I find myself listening to just for the pleasure of it – this is of those.
