Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

There is so much going on in the life of Eleanor Nelly that a music lover you have to stand back, smile and appreciate with utter faith and conviction the beauty in the songs that she offers to live audiences. That conviction, that heartfelt comprehension of her soul and understanding of her as a person, is only intensified when you finally get the chance to hear the songs played out in the setting of your living room or through the earphones as you disconnect from the world and the gossip on the bus. For through being able to hear the softness of a voice hammer home the anarchy of a young woman, the turmoil, the pain and the grace that comes with such an age, the listener is able to empathise with the disgraceful way we as a society are still treating our youth.

Insane & Loved might as well be the calling card for any teenager going through tough times in the modern day, they are pillared and pushed, they are told they are feckless and irresponsible and yet we treat some as they cannot cope with making the everyday decisions that will make the mark on the world. Insane and loved, the carrying call for Eleanor Nelly which just screams to be heard and understood, the build up frustration, of collective neglect for a generation and the anger and the soulful drive is exemplified by Ms. Nelly in this her debut E.P.

The five tracks placed before the listener are not only passionately aware, they strike a hammer against those who believe nothing good can come out of the youth of Britain with sweet vengeance. The musical poetry, the pleasure in admiring such deftness of poetic and lyrical value, is one that comes from allowing the voice to be heard and in the songs Going Home For Winter, Breaking Barriers, Dear Diary, I Call Safe and the E.P. title track, that fostering of anger at the world but with the cool and early suave that comes with young requited talent, is enjoyable, fantastically played and to be encouraged at all costs.

Insane & Loved, it is a good way to be, especially when it means that feelings cannot be denied a voice.

Ian D. Hall