She’s Back!

How as a resident of the North East of England ended up in New Zealand at the Auckland Folk Festival in 2001 is becoming less clear with advancing years but one thing that has never faded is the memory of Elle Osborne playing there.

I bought the Testimony album there and then and I can honestly say that rarely a month has gone by over the last 10 years when I haven’t listened to something from it. Every now and again I would check whether she was on tour anywhere I could get to - or indeed indeed whether there was any new music out from her - after all someone that talented can’t have been musically silent all that time..?

And then late last year, a quiet little email crept out to an almost redundant email address that she had a new ep out - and that an album was due shortly. I got my hands on it as quick as I could - and I love it! "Good Grief" - four perfectly formed tracks of loss, hope and resolve - the chill of dying love in "The Ice House", the bittersweet memories of "Wise Eyes Wide" ( "Your lying eyes I still idolise..") the multi-level narrative of "The Time of the Small Sun" and the bruised assertions of "The Boatman" - "She didn’t want a goat or a philosopher". Beautiful!

This is soul music - firmly rooted in a folk idiom ( I hesitate to use the word "tradition") - addressing timeless themes but with an unmistakably contemporary (and starkly beautiful) voice. (I really wasn’t surprised to see that Alasdair Roberts plays on the full album "And Slowly She Got Up" - due out in March.)

Buy the ep - it’ll give you a fine taste of the delights due in the full album in the Spring. And see you at the gigs!