“With the conversational intimacy of her phrasing and the torchy romanticism of her most seductive material, Eleni Mandell sounds more than ever like a period piece throwback here. The title track, the opening "Moonglow, Lamp Low," and the closing after-hours-piano-lounge "Miss Me" evoke the sophisticated heyday of Cole Porter and the Gershwins, with saxophonist Jeff Turmes playing Lester Young to Mandell's Billie Holiday. She also displays a penchant for waltzes and lyrical anachronisms (does anybody really speak of "motor cars" these days?). Yet "Girls" and "Make-Out King" sound girlishly coquettish in comparison with such cosmopolitanism, "Salt Truck" seems sing-song and nursery-rhyme slight, and "Dear Friend" suffers from an increasingly busy arrangement. "My Twin," "Wings in His Eyes," and "Perfect Stranger" reflect Mandell's continued growth as a writer, but the album as a whole, despite generally strong production by Andy Kaulkin, suggests that she most needs an editor who can help this eclectic artist focus on what she does best.” --Don McLeese
“With the conversational intimacy of her phrasing and the torchy romanticism of her most seductive material, Eleni Mandell sounds more than ever like a period piece throwback here. The title track, the opening "Moonglow, Lamp Low," and the closing after-hours-piano-lounge "Miss Me" evoke the sophisticated heyday of Cole Porter and the Gershwins, with saxophonist Jeff Turmes playing Lester Young to Mandell's Billie Holiday. She also displays a penchant for waltzes and lyrical anachronisms (does anybody really speak of "motor cars" these days?). Yet "Girls" and "Make-Out King" sound girlishly coquettish in comparison with such cosmopolitanism, "Salt Truck" seems sing-song and nursery-rhyme slight, and "Dear Friend" suffers from an increasingly busy arrangement. "My Twin," "Wings in His Eyes," and "Perfect Stranger" reflect Mandell's continued growth as a writer, but the album as a whole, despite generally strong production by Andy Kaulkin, suggests that she most needs an editor who can help this eclectic artist focus on what she does best.” --Don McLeese
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