That 2003 debut album, Street Child , revealed an outstanding assortment music that was a kind of semblance of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, Martina McBride, Cat Stevens and a few other notable influences, yet carried within a refreshing originality all its own. Elan's voice proffered a husky and resonant articulation, with captivating songwriting skills that went beyond the simple verse-verse-chorus vibes of most modern divas; Elan was something different entirely - a powerful songwriter whose songs were intensely honest works that were raw and full of soul. She wasn't just singing songs - she had something to say, and said it with a relentless intensity. The album was full of confident passion, songs that surged forth in insistent tsunamis of dramatic provocation.

Her second album, London Express, goes even further in its songwriting and its performance. One review I read aptly described it as "gorgeous, soulful, and empathetic blues rock," which I feel puts it very well. I will add only that it is by far one of the best albums I've heard all year. I am simply blown away by both of these albums, which carry an impact and an import one rarely encounters in today's pop musical landscape.

London Express finds its roots in the music of The Beatles, which Elan has described as the "only band that really changed everything." Elan has adopted rhythmic patterns and textures and recording techniques from the British Invasion of the 1960s and crafted her own tribute to British rock, yet stamped with her own unique signature and poetry. This is far from pastiche songwriting; this is an outstanding record in its own right, a collection of stories and impressions and sensations that meld together with the persuasive cadences that made Street Child such a

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Some songs are more overtly Beatlesque than others; such as "The Fool's Life," a clear homage and follow-up to The Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill" with the same fluted intro, or the Harrison-like guitar solo in "Nobody Knows." Vocal choruses on songs like "Be Free," the album's first single, reflect that of Beatles songs like "Rain;" while the riff and the concluding choruses of "Get Your Blue" are clear reinterpretations of the format of "Hey Jude's" chorale denouement. "Nobody Knows" opens and closes with an audio clip from an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and there are a few examples of reversed recordings included in the mix. London Express is more Lennon-like in its reliance more upon rhythm than melody; meaning that it doesn't trounce up and down the scales with the vigor of a McCartney melody; but its through its rhythmic strength that each song assumes its dramatic power and attractiveness.

The overall dynamic of London Express remains with Elan's personal passion for impressionistic and expressionistic storytelling, ranging from the brutally honest ("The Devil in Me," "Don't Worry") to the purely joyful (the rousing "The Big Time," and the sublimely poignant "Sweet Little You"). She describes loves and losses with an elegiac candor that is both disarming and profound, and these emotions are embodied within musical measures and colors that are thoroughly alluring and enticing. In the final analysis, it is as much the musicality of the album as it is the songwriting and singing of Elan that make London Express as inviting a recording as it is.

Street Child, incidentally, has been reissued by Silverlight in new packaging in the same style to that of London Express, so if you don't have the first CD you might make a point of picking both of them up for a matched set - and an unforgettably captivating pair of amazing recordings.

www.elan-online.com
About the Author

Randall Larson Music News & Soundtrax Columnist, Cinescape.com

Contributing Writer/reviewer: Music from the Movies, Film Music Magazine, Cemetery Dance Magazine

Former Senior Editor, Soundtrack Magazine

Former Editor/Publisher, CinemaScore, The Film Music Journal