Mad Sometimes/Limited Gold Vinyl

Description

Ella Raphael has an astonishing voice, full of warmth and emotion; she is endearing, like an old friend telling you stories. Mad Sometimes is her debut album, released by Fire Records. Ella grew up in London, surrounded by sounds, listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Etta James, while discovering Queen, the Beatles, and the Stones in her father's collection. Her musical journey continued in Australia, where she met many other musicians and found herself sailing with aspiring pirates, singing at the bow of their boat and deciding that music was the way forward. Enchanted by the music she discovered during her travels in the United States and Europe, she refined this eclectic mix by adding Love, Serge Gainsbourg, Karen Dalton, Vashti Bunyan, Catherine Riberio, and Alpes, the original masters of Tropicalia, the exotic guitars of the 50s, and the more esoteric sounds of the Beatles. Writing outdoors, freedom has always been a virtue for Ella, who writes songs that are both painful and fragile, then exalted and festive. She has perfected a sound as vast as her influences and experiences, a music as beautiful as her surroundings, using the complexities and subtle nuances of sound to channel both light and darkness in her music. On her debut album, the sound comes from an elegant blend of lap steel, mandolin, guiro, congas, synthesizers, a shruti box, and string instruments played by Ella, Eyal Samson, Uzi Ramirez, Ron Ephrati, Guy Mintus, and Amir Sadot.