Liverpool Sound and Vision 8.5/10
There is a whisper in the air, the sound of something exciting and eccentric, the electricity of a corrupted heart nestling in the ambience of a decadent groove and it is a wickedness that is amongst the very best of albums that will stick in the listener’s minds; the whisper of the unique and powerful always has that effect.
For Elouise, a collaboration of Los Angeles based musicians which include Rich Dembowski, John Chamberlin, Michelle Beauchesne, William Bongiovanni and Elouise Walker, their debut album Deep Water is a voyage of discovery, a trip into the fantastical and the damned and it is an expedition into the unknown in which to travel light and with great fondness of what you are about to experience.
The mixture of harmony, of deliberate fascination with the world of cinema and the trek in to the world of darkness is an alluring mix, a tantalising reminder of the art that is often missed when music tries to keep the portentous at bay.
The heady combination of multi layered instruments, the banjo that cradles the warmth of the Bluegrass effect is one that creates the symphony that unfolds around the listener as if they are marking time in the back row of the movie playhouse, the enjoyment of the spectacle all coming together as celluloid and the first pangs of love collide.
It is as baring witnessing the long steady line of cinematic classics all being played day in day out, the ability to step inside the realm of the cutting g room and adding the effect of music in which can only enhance the film and take it to a new height. Cinema may be the art that all seem to flock to but it is nothing without the interpretation of music giving it a guiding hand.
In tracks such as Saturn Bar, Shadow of The Pines, Hurricane and I’ll Be Good To You, Elouise rise above the expected and give expression the freedom it requires to breathe, to spread out beyond the confines imposed by natural music law and become something different, something sinister and captivating; glamorous and femme fatale noir dangerously evocative.
Deep Water is not for the shallow or the small minded, it is for those who can see beyond the profound and enjoy the physical reality of excellent, well driven thoughtful lyrics. Intense and pleasurable, Deep Water is a true reflection of humanity’s darker side.
Ian D. Hall