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Eleni Mandell - Artificial Fire
| Pastemagazine |
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Los Angeles hipster and Tom Waits acolyte Eleni Mandell has been writing and singing sultry pop-noir songs for almost a decade now, but it wasn't until 2007's stark, brooding Miracle of Five that she started to receive the acclaim she deserves. That album ended up on several year-end Best Of lists, including Paste's. Her follow-up, Artificial Fire, should ensure that the radar is firmly fixed on her music for a long time to come—this big, bright blip on the screen is the best pop album I've heard in months. Mandell has always been a master of conflicted love songs for grown ups, and she writes a double handful here that are as strong as anything in her catalog. She's sensuous and altogether aware that Casanovas sometimes turn out to be creeps. On seductive, woozy slowdance "In the Doorway," she conveys nothing if not a palpable lust, but on "Don't Let It Happen"—an homage to '60s girl groups—she's already written off a would-be suitor as callow and immature. It's the same push and pull she's explored so successfully on previous albums, and she may be the best songwriter on discordant desire and heartache since Joni Mitchell. She's less successful when she gets metaphysical and mystical, as on "God is Love" and "I Love Planet Earth," the only misfires on the album. But the love songs (and lust songs) are fabulous; witty, insightful and full of real-life conundrums that make these pop tunes into something special....full text |
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| Allmusic |
| One word that is seldom, if ever, used in connection with Eleni Mandell is "belter." The Los Angeles-based singer/songwriter has generally favored a subtle, understated, hushed vocal style; Mandell's vocals are a whisper, not a shout or a scream. But Mandell's subtlety doesn't mean that her performances and songs are lightweight or lack substance; emotionally, Artificial Fire has a lot going on. This 2009 release is a fine addition to her catalog, although it isn't an album that goes for immediacy. Mandell, for the most part, is so restrained in her approach that one who isn't familiar with her work could allow Artificial Fire to quietly fade into the background if the volume isn't turned up; again, she isn't going to beat listeners over the head in order to get their attention. But relegating Artificial Fire to mere background music does the listener a huge disservice, and those who are paying close attention will realize just how substantial tracks like "Needle and Thread," "Little Foot," "Tiny Waste," and "In the Doorway" are. A singer doesn't have to belt in order to be expressive -- Chet Baker, June Christy, Helen Merrill, and other members of jazz' Cool School made that abundantly clear back in the 1950s -- and Mandell is definitely expressive whether she is combining alternative pop/rock with jazz, cabaret, or folk. Of course, those who sang the praises of Mandell's previous albums never doubted for a minute that she was an artist of substance and depth. But if one needs a reminder, the rewarding Artificial Fire does the trick nicely....full text |
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| Spin |
| Eleni Mandell's musical coordinates obviously include sultry sirens Chrissie Hynde and PJ Harvey, but she also possesses an uncanny knack for sweetly sinister, heartsick vignettes. "God Is Love" is both brooding prayer and lament, fueled by guitarist Jeremy Drake's staccato, scale-running riffs. Dreamy, upper-register chord changes power "In the Doorway," imbuing a blushing line like "I was dizzy, I was guilty, I wanted to confess" with manic lust and morning-after regret. The album's rockers are a serviceable change of pace -- especially "Little Foot," which channels early, Farfisa-laced Elvis Costello -- but it's Mandell's torch songs that ignite....full text |
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