Los Angeles, CA. (Conqueroo) - From her first album, 1999's Jon Brion-produced Wishbone, to her fifth, 2004's Afternoon (upon which Los Angeles magazine named her 'best local singer'), L.A.-based singer/songwriter Eleni Mandell has been feeling the love from critics and her fellow musicians, who have offered their respective kudos.
Impressive to be sure, but her career to this point has been a tantalizing extended buildup to her new longplayer, Miracle of Five, due out February 6 on Zedtone Records, which is at once the quintessence and culmination of her body of work to date.
From the hushed, intimate 'Moonglow, Lamp Low' to the closing elegiac ballad 'Miss Me,' the richly nuanced album maintains its mood and subtle momentum, creating a world of its own. It is without question Mandell's most coherent album, and her most eloquent, optimistic and beautiful as well.
'In order to optimize this crucial undertaking, Mandell assembled a group of talented and supportive players, including Wilco lead guitarist Nels Cline, X drummer DJ Bonebrake (who plays vibes here), her longtime rhythm section of drummer Kevin Fitzgerald and bassist Ryan Feves, reed player Jeff Turmes (James Harman, Badly Drawn Boy) and keyboardist Andy Kaulkin (Merle Haggard, R.L. Burnside), who also produced. Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith) did the mixing.
Mandell's singing on the new album is a revelation; never has her conversational alto sounded more present, or more real. Part of it is due to the unorthodox way her vocals were recorded. The idea came to Kaulkin when he went over to Mandell's house to hear her new material. 'Because she was just relaxing in her living room, singing the songs with an acoustic guitar, rather than trying to belt them out over her band, she sounded great,' he says. 'I was really blown away, and I felt like she was on to something. I wish I could take credit for it, but she really found her voice. It seems gentle, but it gets under your skin. She's got so much character and personality in what she does, and I don't think that always came across in the past.'
Determined to get the absolute optimum vocal performances out of his charge, Kaulkin started with Mandell's vocals and nylon-string guitar, recorded solo on the basic tracks; the other musicians would overdub their parts afterward, reacting to her finished vocals. 'Recording all the songs by myself did really make a difference,' Mandell confirms. 'Andy was a little bit hard on me when he felt I wasn't quite getting it, but it was great working with him, just knowing he was really paying attention.'
The songs on the new album begin with real-life experiences and blossom into multi-dimensional expressions of the human condition, all of it captured in the caressing yet charged sound of Mandell's voice. So if you think you know Eleni Mandell, think again. Miracle of Five puts her in a new light, and on a new level of artistic achievement. Hearing her new album is like hearing this captivating artist for the very first time.
