Of singer songwriters in the word there are many. Of those there are few who can take it their words and music much further than the acoustic stage. Yet that connection, that organic quality if you like, is what makes those who can do it stand out from the crowd and Eleni Mandell duly makes her mark with her album “Tailspin”.
“Tailspin” isn’t an album that would be classed as a hard hitter. It simply isn’t the way that Eleni Mandell does business. She isn’t one to shy away from the use of almost maudlin levels of sentimentality either and that, combined with that old time presentational style, makes her songs sound like they can only be sung in black and white. Not that their isn’t the occasional dash of colour to be found but is it always evident that Eleni Mandell deals primarily in shades of grey and, in a move that is almost unfashionable in these days when everything can be resolved with a purchase, her words seem to suggest that all the answers might be found inside.
“Tailspin” sounds positively unfashionable but that matters not for anyone with an appreciation of musical maturity will recognise that Eleni Mandell purveys the kind of songs that sound trivial initially yet actually resonate for far longer than their short duration. That makes this a most worthy album indeed.