Friday, February 20, 2009

Eleni Mandell - Artificial Fire (2009)



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. -Spin.com


1. Artificial Fire
2. God Is Love
3. Right Side
4. Personal
5. Tiny Waist
6. It Wasn't The Time (It Was The Color)
7. Bigger Burn
8. Little Foot
9. Don't Let It Happen
10. In The Doorway
11. Needle And Thread
12. Front Door
13. I Love Planet Earth
14. Two Faces
15. Cracked

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