Elles Bailey and her band have just breezed through the jollification of ‘Enjoy The Ride’, the “top down, wind in my hair” opening song of tonight’s show, and as they regroup for the next tune she bends down and tries to reclaim some much needed space on the cramped stage by pushing a floor fan further to one side. At which point it promptly collapses on its back. She pokes it a bit more, then hears the band start in on ‘Leave The Light On’, and with a laugh and a shrug abandons it to get back to her mic, just in time.
She’s not precious, is Elles. It’s clear from the lyrics of her more serious songs that she’s a
thoughtful individual. But there’s a delightfully goofy side to her too, throwing herself into the uptempo numbers in her set with gleeful abandon and dancing, as the saying goes, like there’s no-one watching. And she puts a positive spin on the fact that tonight’s venue is, frankly, too small for where she’s at now, observing that it’s “cosy”, and allows her to get “up close and personal”, just the way she likes it.
But to the music, eh? And on that front she throws the spotlight firmly onto her latest album Beneath The Neon Glow, playing all ten tracks from it in the course of the show. And why not, when the standard of them is so consistently high? So she follows up ‘Enjoy The Ride’ with the soulful, snappy ‘Leave The Light On’, cleverly juxtaposing images of life on the road with appreciation of the partner left behind to manage the home front, and then dials things down further with the reflective ‘Ballad Of A Broken Dream’. For this she squeezes in next to Jonny Henderson in his keyboard to add piano to his organ, and the band set about adding some sumptuous harmonies to her sad tale of the disappointed artist whose talent goes unrecognised.
They lift the mood again with the romp of ‘1972’, the band following drummer Matthew Jones to give a supple groove to a song that would surely have belonged in the charts of that yesteryear along in carefree fashion. The best song of this first stretch though, is ‘Silhouette In A Sunset’, a beautiful ballad exploring the notion of soul mates at first sight that’s set aglow by Jonny Henderson’s keyboards, while Bailey gets to work selling the melody and the imaginative lyrics – including the reference to the old soul classic ‘Dark End Of The Street’ – in fine style.
Her commitment to her newer material is emphasised by the fact that she only includes one song from her first two studio albums, the mournful-then-strident Americana of ‘Hell Or High Water’, which ultimately builds up a good head of steam but really serves to show how far her songwriting has progressed in the five years since its release. Meanwhile the only cover in the set is ‘Angel Of Montgomery’, selected by the audience by acclamation from four options she gives them, and a ballad which in the hands of musicians like Bailey and her band can’t miss.
Back beneath that neon glow they nail the elegiac glide of ‘Truth Ain’t Gonna Save Us’, Demi Marriner doing the acoustic strumming, allowing Joe Wilkins to add colour on electric guitar. ‘Love Yourself’ is a relaxed slice of soul positivity, given gospel inflections via the backing vocals, Henderson’s swelling organ, and a rousing finale. But my favourite song from this stretch of new songs is ‘If This Is Love’, which pulls the Springsteenian trick of matching an acerbic lyric to an upbeat, gutsy arrangement, Bailey getting her dancing feet going and giving it plenty on the swinging chorus.
‘If This Is Love’ is a song that demonstrates the happy knack of sounding like something you’ve known for years. Which makes it a good scene-setter for the set closer ‘Riding Out The Storm’ a
barnstormer on which guitarist Joe Wilkins gets to let rip and hammer home the final coda. Mind you, I had the impression from the way a fella approached him after it finished that his playing went largely unheard in some quarters due to a sound problem. For my part too, I was conscious that Bailey’s vocals were increasingly getting lost throughout the second half, whether due to her mic, the mix, or some other issue – disappointing, but not fatal. And since I’m having a small grumble, I’ll add that I really wish Elles would put her phone away for the duration of the show. It’s bad enough audience members waving their phones around these days, without the band doing it too.
Still, after cooling things off with the sombre ‘Turn Off The News’, they finish off the evening with a rip-roaring rendition of the glorious ‘Sunshine City’, driven along by Wilkins’ gutsy guitar and giving a moment in the spotlight to Marriner and her ear-bending vocal range.
A quick vox pop conducted by Bailey mid-set suggested that there were as many newcomers tonight as long-standing fans. I’m betting that’ll be the the next time I see her too – hopefully in a room with twice the capacity.
A quick word for supporting duo Ida Mae, who delivered a sharp half hour of blues-inflected Americana, showing how much you can do with just a guitar, an electronic kick drum pedal, a tambourine and a shaker, and two perfectly blended voices.
The husband and wife pair of Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean Ward are nobody’s neophytes, with three albums and a wealth of touring behind them, some of it in the States, and it shows in the quality of their delivery on songs like ‘My Girl Is A Heartbreak’ and ‘Long Gone And Heartworn’, full of perfect harmonies, an implicit sense of rhythm, and bursts of flaying guitar from Turpin. I imagine a lot of audience members will be taking more interest in them, me included.
She’s not precious, is Elles. It’s clear from the lyrics of her more serious songs that she’s a
 |
| Elles Bailey gets jiggy with it |
But to the music, eh? And on that front she throws the spotlight firmly onto her latest album Beneath The Neon Glow, playing all ten tracks from it in the course of the show. And why not, when the standard of them is so consistently high? So she follows up ‘Enjoy The Ride’ with the soulful, snappy ‘Leave The Light On’, cleverly juxtaposing images of life on the road with appreciation of the partner left behind to manage the home front, and then dials things down further with the reflective ‘Ballad Of A Broken Dream’. For this she squeezes in next to Jonny Henderson in his keyboard to add piano to his organ, and the band set about adding some sumptuous harmonies to her sad tale of the disappointed artist whose talent goes unrecognised.
They lift the mood again with the romp of ‘1972’, the band following drummer Matthew Jones to give a supple groove to a song that would surely have belonged in the charts of that yesteryear along in carefree fashion. The best song of this first stretch though, is ‘Silhouette In A Sunset’, a beautiful ballad exploring the notion of soul mates at first sight that’s set aglow by Jonny Henderson’s keyboards, while Bailey gets to work selling the melody and the imaginative lyrics – including the reference to the old soul classic ‘Dark End Of The Street’ – in fine style.
Her commitment to her newer material is emphasised by the fact that she only includes one song from her first two studio albums, the mournful-then-strident Americana of ‘Hell Or High Water’, which ultimately builds up a good head of steam but really serves to show how far her songwriting has progressed in the five years since its release. Meanwhile the only cover in the set is ‘Angel Of Montgomery’, selected by the audience by acclamation from four options she gives them, and a ballad which in the hands of musicians like Bailey and her band can’t miss.
Back beneath that neon glow they nail the elegiac glide of ‘Truth Ain’t Gonna Save Us’, Demi Marriner doing the acoustic strumming, allowing Joe Wilkins to add colour on electric guitar. ‘Love Yourself’ is a relaxed slice of soul positivity, given gospel inflections via the backing vocals, Henderson’s swelling organ, and a rousing finale. But my favourite song from this stretch of new songs is ‘If This Is Love’, which pulls the Springsteenian trick of matching an acerbic lyric to an upbeat, gutsy arrangement, Bailey getting her dancing feet going and giving it plenty on the swinging chorus.
‘If This Is Love’ is a song that demonstrates the happy knack of sounding like something you’ve known for years. Which makes it a good scene-setter for the set closer ‘Riding Out The Storm’ a
 |
| Jonny Henderson and Elles Bailey get cosy |
Still, after cooling things off with the sombre ‘Turn Off The News’, they finish off the evening with a rip-roaring rendition of the glorious ‘Sunshine City’, driven along by Wilkins’ gutsy guitar and giving a moment in the spotlight to Marriner and her ear-bending vocal range.
A quick vox pop conducted by Bailey mid-set suggested that there were as many newcomers tonight as long-standing fans. I’m betting that’ll be the the next time I see her too – hopefully in a room with twice the capacity.
A quick word for supporting duo Ida Mae, who delivered a sharp half hour of blues-inflected Americana, showing how much you can do with just a guitar, an electronic kick drum pedal, a tambourine and a shaker, and two perfectly blended voices.
The husband and wife pair of Chris Turpin and Stephanie Jean Ward are nobody’s neophytes, with three albums and a wealth of touring behind them, some of it in the States, and it shows in the quality of their delivery on songs like ‘My Girl Is A Heartbreak’ and ‘Long Gone And Heartworn’, full of perfect harmonies, an implicit sense of rhythm, and bursts of flaying guitar from Turpin. I imagine a lot of audience members will be taking more interest in them, me included.
Elles Bailey is touring Britain and Ireland until 7 December, with further dates in 2025. Full details available here.
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