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After seven years, Tailspin marks the long-awaited return of Los Angeles songwriter Eleni Mandell. Blending noir romance, West Coast cool, and poetic wit, Mandell pairs smoky, jazz-tinged vocals with razor-sharp storytelling that moves effortlessly between lounge, folk, alt-country, and indie rock. Cinematic, intimate, and emotionally precise, Tailspin reaffirms her status as a cult favorite and one of modern songwriting's most quietly powerful voices.
"Mandell's well-sculpted songs are immediately accessible, additionally offering images, declarations, and melodic movements that precipitate complex and lingering responses" - No Depression
"For those who don't know Eleni, we're speaking of a twenty-year-long, flawless career: in each of her records, there's a unique songwriting mark... It's a treasure trove of records in which songwriting has never missed a beat" - For Folk's Sake
Inspired by her experience teaching songwriting at a women’s prison, Eleni Mandell’s 11th studio release, Wake Up Again, is a set of compelling personalized musical portraits and vignettes. From the dark, dreamy “Circumstance” to the noisy “Be Together,” and the jagged brutality of “What’s Your Handle”, the album highlights Eleni’s strengths as a writer and performer going back to her start under the tutelage of Chuck E. Weiss, Tom Waits and other top chroniclers of people in the shadows. Wake Up Again is a probing look into the lives and minds, the regrets and hopes of those she met, but ultimately also of her and us.
credits
released June 7, 2019
2019, 2019 Yep Roc Records
Eleni Mandell has become one of Los Angeles's most acclaimed singer/songwriters. Her songs have been featured in film and television, including SIX FEET UNDER, TRUE BLOOD, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS, MONKEYBONE, HEAVY and WEEDS. She now returns with her latest album, ARTIFICIAL FIRE.
Review
''May be the best songwriter on discordant desire and heartache since Joni Mitchell... the interplay between Eleni and her band is reminiscent of Chrissie Hynde and early Pretenders.'' --Paste
''Musical coordinates obviously include sultry sirens Chrissie Hynde and PJ Harvey, but she also possesses an uncanny knack for sweetly sinister, heartsick vignettes.'' --Spin
''Artificial Fire is full of caressing ballads, ambient pieces she calls 'space fog' and punchy pop-rock stompers that recall the best late-'70's moments of Blondie, Talking Heads or Elvis Costello & the Attractions.'' --Performing Songwriter
Double vinyl includes an additional song not available digitally or on CD
Water into Wine, Written by Mike Gunther
Los Fishies, Written by Eleni Mandell
2003 Record release via Heart of Champion Records
The Grabs
The band is a side project for its members: indie singer/songwriter Eleni Mandell, guitarist Steven Gregoropolous (Wild Stares, W.A.C.O., Lavender Diamond), bassist Nigel Harrison (Blondie) and drummer Elvira Gonzalez even an audio sample from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. Mandell calls the quartet "the side-project rock band of my childhood dreams."
The Living Sisters
THE LIVING SISTERS are a charming harmony group made up of Los Angeles’ own Inara George, Alex Lilly, Eleni Mandell, and Becky Stark.
