Ellie Ford - Show Night In
2013 – Hidden
Trail Records
It is fairly obvious from this lovely recording that one of Ellie’s influences is Joni Mitchell. Fortunately that’s all Joni is, an influence. This is no mere copyist album and there are at times little feelings of other talented singer songwriters but none so strong that a listener is not going to be able to pick up on Ellie’s strong individual approach to mellow sounding folk music. As with most albums, one generic label doesn’t really do this beautiful recording justice. The tap root is certainly folk music but Ellie has, probably unconsciously, taken the genre and developed her take on it into something totally unique, natural and powerfully absorbing. Some of the songs have a deep dark atmosphere equaled by the depth of the music and lyrics. It is rare that a debut album has contained such a strong maturity, almost as if Ellie is a seasoned performer into perhaps her third decade of success and now with the confidence to allow her musical muse to take her where it will, rather than the relative newcomer that she actually is!
Instrumentally she is unusual, including her ability to play the harp alongside her guitar and piano prowess. The harp is the ideal foil for her beautiful vocals with its floaty meandering sound allowing her voice to range at will through various emotions and atmospheres, allowing her pretty much free rein to experiment and cement her uniqueness. Whilst the sound is mellow and her vocals possessed by an ethereal quality Ellie has enough of an edge and variation in her music to avoid the blandness that besets so many albums in a similar generic field. Texturally there is plenty of variation thanks to the set up of the instrumentation and the projection of her vocals, not ‘rocked up’ but she does have the ability to move from the ethereal to an almost jazzy feel.
There are just seven songs on the album but only five titles with the final two tracks being different mixes of two earlier songs. This is not the negative that it appears to be, with the vocal seemingly a little further back in the mix and the powerful addition of the piano on the latter versions. I say powerful simply because it changes the trajectory of the two songs giving them a slightly different impact and perspective. On the whole those two songs (A Word To The Wise and Low) are not just filler and allow the listener a peek at an artist who whilst working in her own fully fledged style is always looking to experiment and develop further. Album opener and title track Show Night In is a lovely mellow floaty song on which Ellie is accompanied by her own acoustic guitar and sets the atmospheric scene for what is to follow. On the first version of A Word To The Wise Ellie is this time accompanied by her harp which brings a dramatic slightly spooky intensity to this excellent song with a vocal that is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell (at least to me!) in the mid to late 1970s! She is again accompanied by her lovely harp on the first version of Low a song that gradually picks up in drive and intensity before slowing to a lovely mellifluous feeling. The drums that are a little far back in the mix help the drive and also help to bring a little variety to an album that despite it’s mellow brevity and sparse instrumentation actually does have enough diversity between songs to ensure there is always something of interest going on.
This is certainly not ‘pop music’ but it is most definitely music of a very high quality by someone who adds a little extra something to ‘folk music.’ I would say that if you like Joni Mitchell or perhaps a modern equivalent such as Joanna Newsom you can be sure you will love this gorgeous recording by a lady who seems to have a fully forged and highly individual style right from the off. Beautiful album.
http://www.ellie-ford.co.uk/
It is fairly obvious from this lovely recording that one of Ellie’s influences is Joni Mitchell. Fortunately that’s all Joni is, an influence. This is no mere copyist album and there are at times little feelings of other talented singer songwriters but none so strong that a listener is not going to be able to pick up on Ellie’s strong individual approach to mellow sounding folk music. As with most albums, one generic label doesn’t really do this beautiful recording justice. The tap root is certainly folk music but Ellie has, probably unconsciously, taken the genre and developed her take on it into something totally unique, natural and powerfully absorbing. Some of the songs have a deep dark atmosphere equaled by the depth of the music and lyrics. It is rare that a debut album has contained such a strong maturity, almost as if Ellie is a seasoned performer into perhaps her third decade of success and now with the confidence to allow her musical muse to take her where it will, rather than the relative newcomer that she actually is!
Instrumentally she is unusual, including her ability to play the harp alongside her guitar and piano prowess. The harp is the ideal foil for her beautiful vocals with its floaty meandering sound allowing her voice to range at will through various emotions and atmospheres, allowing her pretty much free rein to experiment and cement her uniqueness. Whilst the sound is mellow and her vocals possessed by an ethereal quality Ellie has enough of an edge and variation in her music to avoid the blandness that besets so many albums in a similar generic field. Texturally there is plenty of variation thanks to the set up of the instrumentation and the projection of her vocals, not ‘rocked up’ but she does have the ability to move from the ethereal to an almost jazzy feel.
There are just seven songs on the album but only five titles with the final two tracks being different mixes of two earlier songs. This is not the negative that it appears to be, with the vocal seemingly a little further back in the mix and the powerful addition of the piano on the latter versions. I say powerful simply because it changes the trajectory of the two songs giving them a slightly different impact and perspective. On the whole those two songs (A Word To The Wise and Low) are not just filler and allow the listener a peek at an artist who whilst working in her own fully fledged style is always looking to experiment and develop further. Album opener and title track Show Night In is a lovely mellow floaty song on which Ellie is accompanied by her own acoustic guitar and sets the atmospheric scene for what is to follow. On the first version of A Word To The Wise Ellie is this time accompanied by her harp which brings a dramatic slightly spooky intensity to this excellent song with a vocal that is reminiscent of Joni Mitchell (at least to me!) in the mid to late 1970s! She is again accompanied by her lovely harp on the first version of Low a song that gradually picks up in drive and intensity before slowing to a lovely mellifluous feeling. The drums that are a little far back in the mix help the drive and also help to bring a little variety to an album that despite it’s mellow brevity and sparse instrumentation actually does have enough diversity between songs to ensure there is always something of interest going on.
This is certainly not ‘pop music’ but it is most definitely music of a very high quality by someone who adds a little extra something to ‘folk music.’ I would say that if you like Joni Mitchell or perhaps a modern equivalent such as Joanna Newsom you can be sure you will love this gorgeous recording by a lady who seems to have a fully forged and highly individual style right from the off. Beautiful album.
http://www.ellie-ford.co.uk/