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 Acclaimed local songstress ELEANOR ANGEL has spent many months working on her second album Face To Face – but the wait is finally over. DENIS SEMCHENKO tunes in.
Familiar through her charming 2008 debut Rain On The Street and select live performances, Brisbane folk singer-songwriter Eleanor Angel has recently delivered a more full-bodied sophomore record Face To Face, where her bewitching, crystalline voice and fingerpicked guitar are backed by a rhythm section and swooning strings.
“There were a few setbacks along the way – a lot of it had to do with printing, actually, but it’s all together now and I’m very happy,” the blonde-haired beauty beams. “Happy to have it in my hands!”
With the new album tour having recently kicked off at The Upfront Club in Eleanor’s beloved Maleny, fans of Brisbane’s The Troubadour can also expect a captivating live experience in a relaxed, intimate setting. As a regular Troub attendee who’s already guessed the siren cannot wait to grace the familiar, tassel-adorned stage, I wonder how Eleanor’s previous Sydney show went.
“It was good, but I had a little bit of a hiccup – my guitar decided to... something was happening with the electronics during the second last song, but the gig itself was really wonderful,” she recounts. “The venue [The Vanguard] was amazing – I’ve played Sydney once before, but the venue blew my mind a little bit, really beautiful. I really enjoyed it and I’m hoping to get down there a little bit more often.”
When we spoke for the first time last year, Eleanor was a distinctive presence among the merry pirate-folk collective The Good Ship, but the last few months have primarily seen her in the solo sailor mode.
“I haven’t been for a while – I’ve just been so busy with my own stuff,” she sighs. “I’d go and watch their show, do some harmony vocals on their album but that’s about it. I’m sort of... focusing on my own thing. I do occasionally wander up onstage with them when I’m there, but sadly I’ve had no time to take part in the rehearsals. But you never know – it’s Brisbane after all!”
A confident, emotive storyteller, Eleanor reckons Face To Face’s lyrical themes tend to be somewhat more upbeat than its predecessor’s introspective musings on life experiences.
“I think this album is probably a bit more optimistic and I suppose there’s a general theme of hope throughout my lyrics – there’s a focus on the passing of time,” she says. “In that sense, they share a lot of similarities, there’s just a bigger focus on hope. I don’t know if the music itself is upbeat, but the lyrics are definitely a little bit more hopeful.”
Another indicator of Eleanor’s artistic growth is the album’s richer, fuller musical and instrumental palette.
“With this album, I was trying to capture the live performance and what we do live,” she admits. “It was my band, which is double bass, cello, drums and the guitar, and we pretty much do that. It’s very organic, because I didn’t want to go for something that didn’t reflect what we do live – I really wanted something honest and organic. It’s still acoustic, but there’s a little bit of the electric guitar in the album: I’ve bought an electric guitar. Her name is Sophie; it’s an old guitar and I bought it second-hand, so it has a lot of character.”
ELEANOR ANGEL plays The Troubadour on Sun May 16, with The Indigo Kids and The Tealeaves [VIC] supporting. FACE TO FACE is out now. www.myspace.com/eleanorangel.
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